The Final Frontier
by JulieGee
Summary: Captain Pendragon commands the U.S.S. Excalibur. Morgana's his first officer, Gaius is the doctor, and Gwen's at tactical. Now the only question is whether the ship will survive Ensign Emrys! Mild implied Merlin/Arthur slash, but mainly humour!
1. Chapter 1

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 1**

"Gwen! It's massive! I had no idea," Ensign Emrys gasped as the shuttle entered Spacedock and headed towards their new home, the U.S.S. Excalibur. She was one of the new Sovereign-class starships, one of the most technologically advanced ships in the quadrant.

"It is pretty impressive," his friend replied. She was trying very hard not to laugh at his reaction. Her parents had served in StarFleet for years. She had been born on the Enterprise-D. Picard's ship. The Excalibur was actually slightly smaller. It had no room for families. The Federation's starship design philosophy had changed remarkably since their first encounter with the Borg. Starships were far too dangerous for children now.

"I understand the captain asked for you personally," her friend said, the awe in his voice apparent. There were ten new ensigns in the shuttle. Over a hundred had applied. Competition for the Excalibur had been fierce.

"Yes, it was pretty much a tie between the U.S.S. Archer and the Excalibur, but the captain worked with my mother ten years ago on the Lexington. She was their ops officer. The captain was their chief helmsman. They were... close." She wanted me to serve under him," she said as she snickered under her breath. He had been "close" with many young women over the years. His reputation in that area rivaled another golden haired captain from a century before.

"I have no idea why I was assigned to Excalibur. I expected a garbage scow after the 'simulator' incident," Emrys sighed.

Gwen smiled again. Merlin really was creative. Not overly wise, but extremely creative. Unlike the legendary Kirk he hadn't won the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Miraculously, he hadn't lost it, either. He blew up the simulator and took StarFleet Command's mainframe down with it instead!

No one knew how, and Merlin wasn't saying anything. Who could blame him? Admiral Janeway had threatened him with court martial if he said a word. The vulnerability he exploited existed on every starship in the Federation. Over the past several months most of the starships had been refitted to eliminate the weak spot, but some hadn't yet. His tactic would have to remain a secret until then.

Gwen didn't mention it, but she was quite sure that's why her friend had been assigned to the Excalibur. The starship had spent the past three weeks in Spacedock while they tore out its computer core. Excalibur's captain was a "thinking outside the box" kind of man. He would have recognized the young ensign's unpredictability as an asset and grabbed him as quickly as he could. Not every Captain wanted people who always followed the rules.

They watched as the shuttle entered the shuttlebay with a crisp "crack" as it penetrated the atmospheric containment field. Gwen could hardly stay in her seat. She had waited a lifetime for this opportunity, and now it was at hand.

* * *

Captain Pendragon and Commander Morgana were waiting in the shuttlebay to greet the newest members of their crew. Gwen's amusement continued unabated as she watched Merlin start to sweat. The upper echelons had that effect on new graduates.

Commander Morgana was a stunning, dark-haired woman. Her warm smile and soft brown eyes didn't change the fact that she had a backbone of steel.

Captain Pendragon was a study in softer shades. His golden hair caught the light, his softly tanned skin warm and welcoming. The occasional flicker of the blue containment field twinkled in his stunning azure eyes. The officers exited the shuttle, excitement evident, and snapped to attention in front of their new captain.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," he said with his distinctive, resonant voice. "You're here for one reason. You're the best. You're brilliant, creative and competent. Commander Morgana will provide you with further details on your duty assignments and will assign you quarters. Take the next few days to explore the ship. Your responsibilities will start next week. Welcome aboard," the captain said.

The captain turned to walk out of the shuttlebay. He paused and glanced over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly as he regarded the young half-Romulan. He walked over to him.

"Ensign Emrys, isn't it?" he asked.

Merlin's mouth opened but no words came out. Gwen elbowed him lightly in the ribs. "Um. Yeah! Yes, that's me. Merlin Emrys, sir."

"You're the one who crashed the fleet's systems, aren't you. They just finished installing the Excalibur's new computer core. I trust you have no other surprises for us?"

"Uh, no. No, sir!"

"Very good." He paused. He had intended on sharing their destination with his crew once they had departed, but this wasn't a bad time.

"You speak Romulan, don't you ensign?"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Hmm. The Excalibur has been assigned to patrol the Neutral Zone before the start of our five-year mission to explore the Beta quadrant. There have been strains on our already shaky relations with the Empire. Your language skills may prove useful. Report to the bridge tomorrow morning at 06:00."

"Oh, and don't blow up my ship like you did the simulator. I would be most unhappy with you."

There was a loud snicker from all present. The former cadets were well aware of their classmate's skill at upsetting the status quo. The captain smiled and walked out of the shuttlebay, leaving the much less anxious ensigns with Morgana.

Well, most of them were less anxious. Merlin's anxiety had gone through the roof.

* * *

The sound of soft beeps and the sight of what seemed to be a million little lights greeted Merlin as he rushed onto the bridge looking rumpled. He woke up late like he often did, and he didn't even have time for a sonic shower this morning. He walked over to the captain's chair looking nervous.

"I usually don't have a problem making myself understood, ensign. Perhaps I was unclear. I was quite certain I said 06:00. Not 06:20," Captain Pendragon said. Sitting in the centre seat on the Command dais, he was even more intimidating than he had been the previous day.

"No, Sir! I mean yes, Sir! I mean... You said 06:00, Sir."

"And yet you walked onto my bridge twenty minutes late. Perhaps you'd care to explain yourself? Actually, don't bother. We don't have time. Take the helm, Emrys," the Captain said sternly.

As his new, young, now completely frazzled officer scurried for the helm, the Captain glanced at his first officer. She was nearly as good at hiding a smile as he was.

"Ensign Gwen, inform Spacedock that we're departing. Set course for the Neutral Zone, maximum warp. Helm, initiate departure sequence and take us out. Prepare to go to warp on my command."

The captain's displeasure had so stressed the young ensign he was having a hard time thinking straight. It took him a second to remember which of the seats was the helm. He sat down and glanced at the keys in front of him. At least he was familiar with those. He had spent years learning them. He hit the necessary keys to free the ship from the dock. He relaxed a bit. He hadn't screwed up yet. He was going to make sure he wouldn't! Doing so his first shift would be embarrassing, to say the least!

"Yes, sir. Moorings cleared. Taking us out, full impulse," Merlin replied with only a slight quaver in his voice.

The Captain turned back to his First Officer. "Commander, our trip to the Neutral Zone should be uneventful. Perhaps we might want to..."

Wait! What did the ensign just say?

Morgana wasn't looking at the captain. She was looking at the viewscreen. She was looking at it in horror. "Ensign! Full THRUSTERS... not full IMPULSE!" she cried.

Everyone on the bridge was thrown to the deck as the ship lurched to the side. The loudest noise the captain had ever heard echoed through the bulkheads. It was the unmistakable groan of duranium on duranium.

"ALL STOP!"

He didn't have to say it. The ship stopped all by itself as it wedged between the not yet fully open Starbase doors. The ship's engines cut off just before they bent the massive doors out of alignment. Thankfully it would only take a few minutes for a tug to drag them into open space. It would take Engineering several days to knock out the dents and repaint the hull, though.

Gwen closed her eyes and sighed as she saw a flurry of lights come to life on her tactical panel. "Captain, incoming message from Spacedock. It's Admiral Sulu. He'd like a word with your helmsman."

"Oh, and engineering's next in queue. They're not happy, sir. They're REALLY not happy. I can hear swearing in at least eight languages."

Gwen wasn't sure how this was going to turn out, but she was positive her friend should avoid anyone wearing gold for the next few weeks.

* * *

Commander Morgana regarded the young man with a small amount of sympathy as they sat in her office. She would have torn an even deeper strip out of his hide than she already had if it weren't for his obvious humiliation. Even if she were so inclined, the legendary Admiral's lecture hadn't left all that many places to tear the strip out of.

"Ensign, I understand the bridge of a starship can be overwhelming. I also understand how the captain's irritation at your lack of punctuality threw you. Just don't let it happen again. EVER!" Commander Morgana said.

The Captain and Admiral Sulu had discussed the situation briefly as well.

"I was somewhat hard on the youth, Arthur. He reminds me of myself. Did I ever tell you I left the 'parking break' on when I tried to take the Enterprise to warp the first time? Kirk was merciful. You should be, too."

The Captain smiled. "Of course, Hikaru. And thank you for not mentioning my first time as YOUR helmsman." THAT was an incident the Captain had tried very hard to forget. He had never succeeded. The second loudest sound he had ever heard was the squeal of the port warp engine pylon twisting out of alignment. That had taken a week to fix. He never forgot to engage both engines simultaneously again.

Both men laughed as the Admiral closed the channel.

The Captain leaned back in the comfortable chair in his Ready Room as he shook his head. He had chosen the young ensign for his unpredictability. So far the young man hadn't let him down in that respect! Now the only question was whether his starship would survive him.

"Coffee. Decaf. Black," he ordered from the replicator. He didn't need any caffeine today!

The Captain decided he would leave the ensign at the helm in spite of his rather spectacular error. He'd have a lot of time to train the new officer and he knew from experience that the eyes of a captain boring into the back of an ensign sitting in the starboard seat a few metres from the Command Chair tended to encourage rapid improvement.

As he sipped his coffee he assured himself his decision had nothing to do with his inexplicable affection for the young man. It almost felt as if he had known Merlin for a lifetime. Or several.

The captain had received confirmation of their orders a few minutes before. After showing the flag along the Neutral Zone they'd begin their five-year mission. They had barely left Spacedock, and Emrys had already made it an exciting beginning. He just prayed the ensign wouldn't make it an exciting ending, too!

* * *

.

**A/N: ** OK, I've gotta admit, this first chapter has been a blast to write! **P****LEASE let me know if you enjoyed the chapter.** I'm honestly not sure if others will enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. It's a Merlin/Arthur relationship, but I plan to make it fairly tame compared to some of my other stories. I'm focusing a lot on humour, as you might be able to tell. I'm writing chapters for two other stories right now as well, so I'd really like to know if I should focus on them only, of if this one's good enough to continue. (Oh, in case you're wondering why I'm working on three stories, I get bored easily. Switching between them makes it more fun for me and I think the end result is better because of it.)

Thanks so much!

JulieGee


	2. Chapter 2

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**Chapter 2**

The Captain headed for the holodeck. He seldom exercised the privilege of rank, but it had been a very long week. He had bumped the volleyball team's practice to later in the day. He needed to relax and he needed it badly. The team recognized his stress and surrendered the time slot quite happily. An unhappy captain did not made for a happy starship, and they had to spend nearly all their time in that reality, not on the holodeck!

"Computer, run program Camelot-One."

"That program is currently running. Reset or continue?" the computer's clear voice asked.

The Captain raised an eyebrow. No one else had run the program in years. Most found it boring, but it had always comforted him. The towers of Camelot with their brightly coloured pennants felt like home.

"Continue program," he said.

The large doors opened with their distinctive whooshing sound. As he walked through the Arch and onto the holodeck he took a deep breath. There was a slightly humid quality to the air on the sunlit summer day. White cotton clouds dotted the sky. A light breeze rippled the grass in waves, drawing attention to the mounds of purple heather peppering the field.

The captain smiled as a white ferret popped out of a hole in the ground about a metre from him and hopped onto his shoe. It glanced up at him, gracing him with an irritated glance and a brief chittering lecture. He flicked his foot, sending the indignant creature bouncing across the grass. The lecture briefly intensified. He laughed and tapped his shoulder. The chittering was replaced with a soft purring sound as it skittered up his armour and sat there, clearly enjoying the elevated view. He wasn't worried about her falling off. His little friend was tenacious. His little friend was also noisy! Ferrets didn't usually make sounds, but the computer knew he enjoyed it, so this one did.

He had taken her program with him from ship to ship for years. He hadn't named her until last year, though. "Kathryn" sounded like an odd name for a ferret, but she lectured him so often she came to remind him of a certain Admiral who seemed to take great pleasure in it. He called her "Kathy," just in case the real one ever found out. He was sure she'd promote him to Admiral out of sheer spite!

The computer knew what no one else did. The Captain was fond of small animals. He had owned a miniature Cardassian vole as a child, and loved it dearly. It was quite bright. It often escaped its cage and slept under his arm. Eventually it escaped once too often and was attacked by a cat. The cat had recoiled in horror at the alien taste, but it was too late. He still felt a bit wistful when he thought of it. If he had a choice his little white friend would live with him outside the holodeck, but that wasn't possible yet.

Science officers had stated that such a thing would never be possible. They did that a lot. They were wrong a lot, too. One would think breaking the sound barrier, the light speed barrier and then a hundred other barriers would have convinced them otherwise. In fact, one had stated it as she disappeared in a glitter of a transporter beam. Yet another thing thought impossible a century before. He expected the problem lied in their instant fascination with such a success. It never gave them time to reflect on their previous lack of faith.

The call of a gull drew his attention back to the environment. He went looking for the visitor to what he had thought was his private world. He could have asked the computer for directions, but they weren't necessary. The snoring led him there.

"Good afternoon, Ensign," the Captain said as he nudged the young man with his foot.

"Go away, prat," the young man muttered in reply, refusing to awaken from his pleasant nap.

Prat? The Captain didn't know what that was, but he was fairly certain it wasn't a term of respect!

"Not likely, Ensign!" he replied as he put the snap of command into his voice. The tone he had perfected over the years.

Merlin yawned and squinted, trying to see the backlit man clearly. He shaded his eyes with his hand and gasped.

"I'm so sorry, Captain! I fell asleep. I'm eating into your holodeck time. I'll leave at once."

The captain was amused as his ferret scampered down his armour. It hopped over to the prone man before nuzzling into the red scarf he was wearing. It surprised the ensign, but he smiled and laughed as a little head stuck out from above the scarf. He clearly enjoyed the creature, too. Not everyone did.

He remembered his Vulcan science officer, T'lar, running in the opposite direction as fast as she could for several seconds before realizing just how silly it was trying to escape a holocritter. Once over her almost invisible embarrassment, she explained that similar looking creatures existed on Vulcan, but they preferred to nap inside their unlucky victim. The Captain had decided to visit the deserts of Vulcan as little as possible after that revelation!

The ferret was purring softly as she licked the ensign's neck. Well, if the company was good enough for his little friend...

"No, that's all right. Don't leave. May I join you?"

"Um, yes. Please," the ensign said, clearly not entirely comfortable with his high-ranking guest.

"What do you have there?" the Captain asked. It looked like a picnic basket. It had never occurred to him to request a snack. He was usually too busy fighting. He lay down on the brightly coloured patchwork quilt beside the ensign and tried to get comfortable. He failed. His mirror-bright armour didn't have much give. Merlin saw him struggling.

"Let me help you out of whatever you're wearing, sir."

The captain furrowed his brows. "You don't recognize battle armour, Ensign? I just assumed you had used this program before."

"I had. I do. Often. I use it more than any other program. I just like the picnic thing. For some reason, Camelot feels like home. Ensign Gwen tried it out once, but she got irritated. Something about an even lower rank than ensign. Um, you're probably the wrong person to tell this to, but I'm not really fond of battles."

"I like battles in holodecks, Emrys. In fact I love them. Swords, phasers, bathlets, I love it all. Real life is a very different matter. I lose members of my crew in real life. It's the thing every captain hates most. If they don't, they shouldn't be sitting in the centre seat."

"I think I just got a lot more comfortable around you, Sir," Merlin said as he smiled and stood up. "Please tell me what to do with all this metal you're wearing," he asked. The Captain rose to his feet again.

"Start with the straps on the shoulder. I'll give you directions as you go."

Merlin tugged on the leather straps. They loosened slowly. The shoulder piece lifted off easily. As he lifted it, his hand brushed lightly across the Captain's cheek.

The touch surprised them both. The ensign's brush was a bit more than a touch. Emrys was only part Romulan, but it must be enough. He had clearly inherited the telepathy of his distant Vulcan cousins.

The Captain had heard a soft voice in his head at the contact. A very excited soft voice.

"_shinyherowantnow!_"

He nearly rolled his eyes at the "hero" part, but he was well aware that most people viewed him that way. He tried to ignore it. In his opinion, doing one's duty hardly made one a hero. He refocused on the more pressing issue.

Both men had frozen at the light contact. They were still standing close to one another. Merlin was holding the shoulder plate, frozen in position as they stared into each other's eyes. He wondered if the young man had heard something from him, as well. He tried to remember what he had been thinking at the time. He winced. It had been a long time since he had been with anyone and their close proximity hadn't been entirely unwelcome. To his surprise, it hadn't been entirely chaste, either.

The Captain had never felt attracted to a man before. It was disconcerting. He tried to dismiss it. They were about to start on a five-year mission of exploration. The last thing he needed was to add THAT kind of exploration to everything else.

It had been a stressful few months preparing for their voyage and tearing out the computer core hadn't helped. The Excalibur had been inoperable during the period. It was safe in Spacedock, but the captain hadn't been happy when his ship had her mind removed. They had upgraded the computer significantly, but it didn't make up for the fact that she had been helpless for what felt like an eternity. He had felt that way as well. He did NOT like feeling helpless. He never had, and he never would. He subconsciously touched the sword hilt on his hip. It made him feel more secure immediately.

"I can remove the rest myself, Ensign. Thank you for helping me," he said as he slowly stripped off the remaining metal.

The Captain considered leaving the holodeck. The mental brush had thrown him, but after a moment's thought he decided to stay. He had occasionally taken the luxury of sleeping with a fellow officer, but nothing serious had ever come of it. He would never let it.

His first love had been a senior officer. They had worked together on a Starship, and in his opinion even the largest ships were entirely too small for such a relationship. She had died from a disruptor wound a few months later. For years, every deck he walked on, every meal he ate in the mess hall, almost everything on the ship reminded him of her. He wouldn't let anyone go through what he had gone through.

Your first love was always special, for good or ill. Her death nearly broke his heart. In fact, as he thought about it, he realized it probably had. There had been a lot of sex since then, but he hadn't fallen in love. He had sworn he never would again. When the terrible loneliness of command that permeated his life became nearly unbearable, he reminded himself of what he had accomplished. He sat in the "big chair" saving others so they could feel what he couldn't. The ends justified his pain.

Saridin Prime was full of billions of people loving each other because of his skill. Many were disliking each other intensely, as well. All were feeling something they wouldn't have otherwise. All of them were still feeling. His quick thinking had destroyed the Borg cube bearing down on their planet, it's broadcast of "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile" striking terror into the Saridins before he succeeded. He was certain he could count the number of Captains who might have had the skill to do the same on one hand. He was among the best captains in the fleet. He didn't think of it as arrogance. It was reality.

It certainly didn't change the fact that he had been mortified when he found out the Saridins had designated the fourth day of the month of Rajic, "Pendragon Day." The ensign's next query spared him the embarrassment of further reflection.

"Would you like an apple, Captain?" Emrys asked. He hunted through the picnic basket as his metal-free Captain returned to the blanket. He found one and offered it to him.

Why the basket? Why didn't the young man just ask for one? The captain was amused again! The ensign must be one of those people who preferred actual food to the replicated variety. Every science officer he had ever asked assured him they were essentially identical. He was pretty sure knowing the apple was real was the only thing that made it taste better to the ensign. All in all, a pretty harmless quirk.

"No, that's fine ensign, but thank you. Computer, one hot dog, please. Mustard and relish, too." He held out his hand. One of his favourite foods materialized in his palm an instant later.

The ensign made the mistake of sitting the apple down on the blanket. He gasped as a flash of white shot from his scarf and leapt on the unfortunate piece of fruit. The Captain had often wondered if the holodeck made a mistake in the subroutines when it created his four-legged companion. His little friend could eat ten times her weight in the space of an hour. She was already half-buried in the rare genuine apple, Merlin watching in irritation.

"Computer. One cat. Big. Hungry..."

"Don't you dare, ensign!" the Captain said as he laughed. His laughter was infectious. Both men were chuckling in seconds.

"Fine. No cat. The little fuzzhead can stay," he snickered.

The Captain took a bite of the hot dog and studied it closely. "You know, there's a lot to be said for relaxing in the holodeck. The food tastes good, and it doesn't show up as part of my daily rations. The nasty calories and fat Commander Gaius is always lecturing me about don't appear on his reports. I swear, Chief Medical Officers are selected based on their ability to irritate Captains." He raised his other hand and found it empty.

"Oh yes, computer. A beer, too. Synthehol, please." He didn't want to get tipsy. He smiled as a frosty stein appeared as if by magic. "Thank you."

Merlin laughed. "You said 'please' and 'thank you' to the computer. I thought I was the only one who did that. They used to tease me at the academy."

"I'm always polite when I'm talking to my ship. She's a lady and I don't want to offend her," he said with a smile. The captain knew how ridiculous that sounded, but he knew a lot of other Captains who felt the same.

Merlin made a face as he looked at the hot dog. Then he relaxed. "That's right. It's not real meat, is it?" He was one of the strict vegetarians that didn't even eat replicated meat. He found it distasteful.

"No, and this isn't beer and we're not in Camelot, but that's fine. You're real, and that's enough for me," the Captain replied.

He blinked in surprise. He had been around the ensign for less than a week, but he already felt completely relaxed with him. He never felt that way around anyone. Even his relationship with Morgana was quite formal, and they had served together for over ten years.

He looked at Merlin closely. The flecks of gold in the ensign's eyes were almost intoxicating. In a moment of rare impulsiveness, the Captain started to lean towards him.

The opportunity was quickly forgotten as the unmistakable sound of a Red Alert screamed through the ship. He leapt to his feet.

The Captain took the luxury of pausing for two seconds to grab another bite of the hotdog and take a gulp of beer. His mouth was full as he headed towards the door.

"Compuher. Enn Pwogwam."

The lovely summer day started to fade, leaving his sword, his armour, and a half-eaten apple on the deck. His fuzzy friend popped her head out of the apple and let out an indignant squeak as her meal was interrupted. She preferred real food, too! In moments, cut off in mid lecture, she disappeared into the ether along with the rest of Camelot as the holodeck doors whooshed shut.

The two men ran towards the turbolift together.

.

* * *

A/N: OK, having lots of fun writing this! Lots of backstory in this chapter. I plan more action for the next one. I suppose the Red Alert at the end is a pretty good indicator! Hope you're enjoying it so far. If the 'Treknical" descriptions get too much, just let me know and I'll tone it back a bit.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 3**

"Computer, report," the Captain said calmly as he ran with Merlin for the turbolift.

"Ship's status un... unavail... unavailable," it said as the corridor displays started flickering.

"Primary... comp... computer core off... offline. Level one diagnos... diagnostic... fail... failure."

"Switching to sec... secondary computer... core... core... core. Sec... secondary com... computer... core... core... core... offline. Level... Level... Level one diagnostic... fail... failure."

"Switch... switching to tertiary... tertiary... tertiary... tertiary..."

The Captain scowled. Backups of backups and all going down simultaneously. The odds were astronomical. Even worse, he was well aware that his starship was going nowhere fast without the support of her computers. The Starship could be operated manually, if necessary, but the Bridge crew and Engineering have to coordinate everything with perfect timing.

The Captain tapped his communicator. There was an unhappy "blurp" and nothing else. He ground his teeth.

"Communications are down. Engineering won't be able to coordinate manual operation or repairs."

"Captain, I know enough about Starfleet computers to break them. I might be able to repair one as well," Merlin said.

"Go!"

"Aye, Sir," the ensign replied as he took off at a run.

Merlin had always dreamed of the exciting life of a Starfleet officer, but a little less excitement would certainly be welcome right now. As the wall displays along the corridor flickered and went dark he ran towards the main computer core.

* * *

"Report!" the Captain called out as he stepped onto the bridge radiating calm. He took the centre seat from Commander Morgana.

"We're not sure, Captain," she said. "Some kind of interference we haven't seen before. It's effecting all our systems. There's some kind of sensor ghost as well. It looks like it could be another ship."

Sensor ghost? Too much of a coincidence. Entirely too much.

"Raise shields. Arm phasers. Arm quantum torpedoes, full spread, maximum yield."

"Sir! Our shields! We can't raise them!" Ensign Gwen gasped in surprise.

"Wait! Romulan Warbird decloaking! D'deridex-class!" she cried. The ensign looked closely at her display. "The Romulans are the source of the interference!"

Normally he would never fire first, but that interference was disabling his ship. If that wasn't an aggressive act he didn't know what was.

"Fire torpedoes!"

Several glowing balls of light shot from the ship. They flew past the warbird, striking nothing.

"Targeting scanners offline. Switching to manual," Gwen said, with no tone of panic this time. The Captain's demeanor was having the desired effect on his crew.

"Fire phasers," he said calmly.

Beams of blood red light lanced from the ship, striking the Warbird in several vulnerable locations. Manual targeting was difficult at the best of times. The ensign was good! The Romulans hadn't managed to raise their own shields yet. It took time after decloaking.

"Status of the Warbird?"

"Damage to their starboard warp engine. Perhaps communications as well. Captain, the interference... It's effecting our weapons. Phaser power down to ten per cent and dropping. They're scanning us. New energy signature detected. It's a transporter signature!"

The Captain felt a familiar tingle start to envelop him.

"Computer, initiate emergency command lockdown! Authorization Pendragon Sigma four!"

As the bridge started to fade from view, he heard the bridge's triple-shielded backup computer stutter "Em... Em... Emergency lock... lockdown... com... complete."

* * *

The Romulan commander was NOT pleased! The Captain of the Federation starship had locked down the command system. The Excalibur was dead in space. Her goal had been simple. Transport the crew, seize the vessel, and take it back to Romulus under it's own power. Now that was impossible. There was no way her Warbird could tractor a Starship that large while under warp. She did have the ship's crew at least. They were potentially more valuable, but she wanted that ship as well! She'd call for help and wait for reinforcements.

"Open a channel to the nearest Romulan vessel, Sub-Commander."

"We can't. Those phaser strikes damaged communications. Our starboard warp engine has been damaged as well."

The Commander cursed. Until the engine was repaired the fastest the Warbird could go was warp six. She wouldn't be flying across the Neutral Zone with an enemy Starship in tow. She'd be limping home with only the crew. Hardly the glorious accomplishment she had anticipated.

Normally she would leave a team of highly trained soldiers on the enemy ship, but their warp core was fluctuating. She couldn't fault the Starfleet engineers for that. There was no one left to oversee it. It could blow with only a few seconds warning. Not nearly enough time for an escape pod to get out of range. She could be signing her soldiers' death warrants, and that was something she wasn't about to do.

"Helm. Go to warp. Get us out of here before that ship blows!"

This was NOT turning out to be a good day!

* * *

Merlin was struggling to pull out some of the new bioneural gelpacks the computer system had been upgraded with. Ripping out the older computers had left a lot of room for improvements. He was listening to the bridge through a direct connection while he worked frantically.

"Transporter signature? TRANSPORTER SIGNATURE?" he gasped. They must be trying to beam the bridge crew off the ship.

He felt a tingle starting. Clearly they were transport anyone in sensitive areas. Inspiration struck. His fingers flew over the flickering control panels. Perhaps if the computer core could generate enough interference of its own...

The room started to disappear and then snapped back into view. It worked! He activated the external sensors just in time to see the Warbird warp out of normal space, heading for their closest allied planet.

"Warning. Warp core instability detected. Estimated time to breach four minutes. Recommend immediate evacuation," the computer warned.

Merlin ground his teeth. He was not abandoning ship! He looked at the warp core status readouts. He replaced the gelpack dedicated to the engineering subsystems. Lights on the command panels stabilized. If he could eject the warp core before it exploded he could save the ship. It wouldn't be going anywhere fast, but it wouldn't be turning into a ball of fire, either.

"Computer. Bring the warp core ejection sequence online."

"Warp core ejection sequence online."

"Computer, eject the... Belay that!"

Wait. He hadn't tried everything yet. There was one more thing. He had no idea how to do it, but maybe the computer did.

"Computer, can you stabilize the warp core? If so, do it!"

"Venting drive plasma. Core stabilization in process. Intermix chamber reaching normal pressure levels. Core stabilization complete."

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. But why hadn't Engineering done the same thing. They were the experts!

He tapped his communicator. It made a much happier sound than it had previously. The interference had disappeared with their enemy. Communications had been restored.

"Engineering!"

Nothing.

"Bridge!"

Nothing.

Suddenly his blood ran cold. "Anyone?"

Nothing.

He replaced the gelpack that operated the internal sensors and scanned the ship. His was the only lifesign. The Romulans had beamed everyone off the ship but him.

He was alone on the Excalibur.

All alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 4**

"Captain Pendragon, I presume?" the Commander asked politely.

"Yes. And Commander Bareth, I believe?"

"I see our reputations precede us. Yours justly, of course."

"You're entirely too modest. Yours is well deserved indeed. Even more so now, might I add," the Captain said.

The Commander had been irritated when ten of her guards manhandled the Starfleet captain onto her bridge. She was quite certain it wasn't necessary. Federation Starship captains weren't known for their stupidity. Ten against one? He would have walked with them placidly.

The polite banter between the two starship commanders wasn't forced. The Commander knew they had more in common than either had with most of their own species. They were kindred spirits. She knew the Captain could sense the same.

The Federation captain was an honourable man. Separated from his starship, he posed no risk. He'd try to escape, of course. That was a given. However, he would never attack her on her bridge. Her heavily armed guards were just for show.

"One of my less experienced officers suggested torturing you for the command codes, but we both know you'd give us the "duress" codes instead. We'd be lucky to escape alive before your ship went up in a ball of flame."

"Damn! I was hoping you'd try that!" the Captain said as he smiled.

The Commander actually snickered. There weren't many people in the galaxy who hoped for torture, and certainly not by Romulans! They excelled at it.

"And humans have the gall to call Romulans sneaky!" she laughed. "I think we'll do this the old fashioned way and drag your ship in with a rope if necessary. Actually, the same officer suggested executing a member of your crew every minute until you gave the command codes to us."

Captain Pendragon's smile didn't falter but his eyes turned to ice.

"However, we both know it wouldn't work and our conversation would certainly become less enjoyable, wouldn't it?"

The captain's eyes warmed slightly. "A wise decision, Commander. A VERY wise decision."

* * *

Merlin had managed to bring the main computer back online. It wasn't that difficult once the mysterious Romulan interference went away with their ship. There was little he could do to help, though. Or was there?

"Computer, analyze the final sensor scans of the Warbird and summarize damage."

"Warbird communications down. Starboard engine damage. Estimated maximum speed warp six."

"Could we catch them at warp eight?"

"There is a 92 per cent probability the Excalibur could intercept them if we initiate pursuit at warp eight within the hour."

"Can we defeat them if we catch them?"

"No." This time it was certain. No probability estimate. "Phasers are still weakened. Shields at 17 per cent."

That wasn't going to work. Not at all! There must be something he could do. Wait...

He winced as he remembered Commander Morgana's hissyfit after he hit the Spacedock doors. This was about a hundred times worse. If it worked, he'd better hop into an escape pod and pray she never caught him. He didn't even want to think of what Captain Pendragon would do.

"Computer, display shuttlebay schematics."

His eyes ran over the display, focusing on the structural integrity fields. The fields reinforced everything on the ship. Without them it would fly apart into a million little pieces the second it moved. Perhaps if the structural integrity fields were reconfigured.

"Computer, launch all shuttlecraft except the Galahad. Then do this."

The computer listened carefully as it always did. It considered the ensign's plan. It didn't need much time to reach a conclusion.

"This procedure is NOT recommended."

Merlin knew the computer's voice should never change, but he could swear he heard a note of panic in it.

"Do it."

The computer seemed to reach desperately for any excuse not to follow what was almost surely a suicidal order.

"Please provide verification of order from a command-level officer."

"Are their any Starfleet officers on the ship other than me?"

"No," the computer replied.

"If there are no other officers on the ship, am I in command?"

"Yes." This time it sounded resigned. "Launching shuttlecraft. Reconfiguring structural integrity fields to specified parameters."

It tried reasoning with the insane ensign one last time.

"This procedure is NOT recommended."

"DO IT!"

* * *

"Commander, we're detecting a starship in pursuit. It's a Federation warp signature. It matches the Excalibur!"

Captain Pendragon and Commander Bareth looked at each other. Their shock was genuine.

"You locked down the computer. How...?" the Commander asked, looking amazed.

"I honestly don't know. It seems you were even less successful than you thought," the Captain said.

She ignored the jibe. "Helm, full stop and come about. We'd better deal with this now while we have time to prepare. Raise shields. Arm disruptors. Tactical officer, report."

"Our sensor readings are erratic. I haven't seen anything like them before. The Excalibur has just entered visual range. On screen now."

The starship commanders had been born thousands of light years apart. Their cultures were completely different. They were sworn enemies and they spoke entirely different languages. It didn't change the fact that their next words were essentially the same.

"WHERE'S THE OTHER HALF?"

The Excalibur's saucer section dropped out of warp far too close for comfort. Both the Captain and the Commander actually flinched. It drifted lazily towards them, still more than fifteen minutes away at its current speed. It was tilted ninety degrees from its usual angle. They were looking at the flat side of the disc, not the edge. Sparks flew from the side facing them as parts of the duranium hull continued to melt. The bottom side where the other half of the Captain's ship should have been attached. It must have been destroyed.

The saucer was the only thing remaining after a catastrophic warp core breach. It couldn't have gone to warp by itself. The ship must have been destroyed while pursuing them, the saucer gradually dropping back to sub-light by itself.

"Hmm. Hardly a threat, Captain," the Romulan commander said smugly.

The Commander blinked in confusion as she watched the Captain's eyes widened in horror.

He gasped. Separation? Sovereign-class ships couldn't separate. But...

"NO! That's only theoretical! It shouldn't... The designers never intended... Who would be crazy enough to..."

His eyes widened further.

"MERLIN!"

He was about to start swearing when he got the shock of his life.

The stardrive section rose above the edge of the saucer. The missing half of the ship had been hiding behind it! It fired a full spread of torpedos. Several struck the warbird, knocking everyone on the bridge off their feet. Phaser strikes crackled against the forward shields. Most of the weapons hadn't hit the Romulan ship. Clearly the automatic targeting scanners were still malfunctioning. Someone must be firing manually! They weren't good, but they were good enough.

"Transfer auxiliary power to main disruptors! Target the active section and fire!" the Commander cried, as she picked herself up off the deck.

A massive ball of light shot out of the Romulan ship. It hit what might now be called the Stardrive section, but it's shields held.

And then...

"What the..." the Captain gasped.

The crippled saucer section stabilized as all its lights came on. It had appeared completely disabled. It certainly wasn't! The utter destruction on the underside of the saucer had clearly convinced the Romulans it was powerless. It had convinced the captain, as well. They had all been focusing on the warp-capable section. The section that had attacked them. The only section they thought still had teeth.

The saucer fired thrusters and turned to face them front-on. It accelerated towards them at an alarming rate. It started to spin like a Frisbee. The captain narrowed his eyes. No, not a Frisbee. More like a...

Again, both starship commanders' next words were essentially the same.

"OH, DEAR GOD! NO!"

More like a circular saw.

The last thing they heard before the front of the rotating saucer section tore into the massive Warbird was the Excalibur computer's frantic broadcast on all channels at emergency power.

**_"_****_THIS PROCEEDURE IS NOT RECOMMENDED! THIS PROCEEDURE IS NOT RECOMMENDED_****_! THIS PROC..."_**

A familiar sparkle surrounded them as the Captain saw the Romulan commander's bridge turn to flame. They rematerialized in Excalibur's secondary shuttlebay a few seconds later.

The Federation officers were vastly outnumbered by the Romulans. There were nearly twice as many of them. Their Commander crouched into an attack posture. Then she saw the white fog starting to flow from the overhead vents. She stood and looked at Captain Pendragon, hands held placidly at her sides.

"Anesthizine?" she asked with a grimace.

"I'm afraid so," the Captain replied with a sigh.

They both started breathing deeply as the mist began to envelop them. Fighting the anesthetic gas wouldn't help and they both knew that if they tried, the resulting choking would make their recovery longer. Unfortunately, their deep breaths wouldn't change the fact that they'd still have a blinding headache when they woke up.

As their vision began to fade, the Romulan smiled slightly.

"I salute you, Captain. Your crew is skilled beyond measure."

"Something makes me think my 'crew' is a twenty-year old half-Romulan half-Human clearly suffering from delusions of grandeur, and likely severe mental instability as well. For his sake, he'd better... he'd better... be."

Both of them fell to the deck along with the rest of their crew as the anesthetic overwhelmed them.

* * *

"Captain? Captain Pendragon?"

The Captain struggled to open his eyes. He heard the soft beeping of the medical monitors in Sickbay. He squinted against the light as a familiar form hovered over him.

"Wha... Ensign Emrys?"

"Yep. Don't worry about the Romulans. The U.S.S. Yamato reached us a few minutes ago and took them into custody."

"My crew?"

"All fine, Captain."

"My ship?"

"Um, not so much. We'll know more once we pry the saucer section out of the Warbird."

The captain managed a look of horror before he passed out.

* * *

.

A/N: Ok, this chapter was way beyond fun to write! Review it and I'll love ya forever!

JulieGee


	5. Chapter 5

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 5**

Captain Pendragon awoke to a much more pleasant sight. Commander Morgana was looking down at him this time. Then he looked to the other side of the bed.

"Damn! It's you! What are you going to do next? Ram the other half of the ship into something?" the Captain yelled before gasping. His own yelling just made the world's worst headache worse.

"Never mind. This is a much more interesting question," he whispered.

"How did you manage to avoid their mass transport? It caught everyone but you," the captain asked.

He had bumped his head seriously when it hit the deck. Apparently the Romulan Commander was in similar condition. He shook his head. Both represented the best of the best from their military organizations, and neither had thought to lie down on the floor before the gas overwhelmed them. The resulting bump from their fall wasn't pleasant.

"Well, I was in the computer core at the time. When I saw the readings I realized they were transporting everyone. I felt the tingle of transport starting. I tuned the core's FTL field to match the inverse of their transporter signature. I 'disappeared' from under their noses. They were transporting nearly eight hundred people. They didn't miss me," Merlin said.

"That was brilliant," the Captain murmured grudgingly. "I just wish your follow-up hadn't been quite so physical."

"Yeah. Now that I think about it, I probably could have used the main deflector to do something similar, but it didn't occur to me at the time."

Merlin flushed green as the image of the carnage caused by his plan popped into his mind. No lives lost, but the ship was in pretty ugly condition. Engineers were still studying what caused the saucer separation. They'd figure it out eventually, and until then he would survive. It would take them a while. No one had ever seen damage like it. They wouldn't even believe it when they figured it out. Then they'd look for the Galahad. After, he wasn't sure, but what they did next wouldn't be good for him!

"You saved the Excalibur and you took a valuable enemy ship with it. They tell me she might be repairable, after all. The spin spread the damage across a wide area of the leading edge. It was much more superficial than it would have been if it struck dead-on."

"Good thing we hit with the leading edge. It was reinforced in case someone drove it into some heavy object. Like Starbase doors."

"Thanks, Captain. I hope... I hope you're not too mad at me."

"No, I'm delighted with you. In the true sense, as well as the sarcastic one. Good job, Emrys. Now, go with Commander Morgana. She's in charge of the repair effort. I'm sure she'll want to chat with you."

The Captain glanced at the ensign's slightly pointed ears. His very sensitive ears. "Might want to bring earplugs. If I know her, it's going to be a loud chat."

* * *

A few hours later, Merlin, Morgana and the Captain were sitting in the Captain's Ready Room. What was left of it, at least. The ensign had a lot of explaining to do.

"I still don't understand how you managed to separate the sections. There were scorch marks all over the back half of the saucer and the front half of the stardrive section had nearly been destroyed."

Commander Morgana shook her head. She hadn't shared that little bit of joy with the Captain yet. He was wearing a cortical monitor on the side of his neck. He was still recovering from the nasty bump. Gaius was diligent.

Engineering had figured it out, but they still didn't believe it. She had a feeling they'd be searching for angry ghosts before returning to the proof of the internal explosion. She had simply reviewed the command logs. It had been much faster. This was NOT going to be pleasant. She nodded at Merlin.

"I, um, I asked the computer to strengthen some of the structural integrity fields, and drop others completely. Then I..." The ensign inched closer and closer to the door. It looked like he was preparing to bolt. Morgana wasn't sure that was a bad idea.

"Then I beamed to main engineering and dropped the antimatter containment fields on the Galahad by remote."

The captain's jaw dropped. He couldn't think. There was a good reason. What the ensign had done was unthinkable.

"YOU SET OFF AN ANTIMATTER EXPLOSION INSIDE MY STARSHIP?" he screamed.

"Yeah. It worked real good. I thought crashing into the Spacedock doors was loud. Trust me, the antimatter explosion wins by a landslide! I didn't think either part of the ship was going to survive. I wasn't even sure I would. All but the last emergency containment field failed. I could see the fire fill the other side of the doorway. If that one had dropped, you'd be picking a roasted ensign off the floor."

The Captain looked at Morgana. He shook his head. "How? An ensign... first week... ship destroyed... fire in doorway... roasted?" the captain stuttered before Morgana helped.

"Focus on the new orders, sir. It helped me. Eventually." She turned to Merlin to give him the one piece of good news they'd received since the incident.

"The U.S.S. Terra Nova was about to be commissioned. They're renaming it the Excalibur. Our crew will be transferring there. They plan to repair what you've done to this ship, but they estimate it'll take a team of fifty engineers nearly a year to do it."

Morgana looked thoughtful. "You've created quite a stir again, ensign. Apparently Admiral Paris has played the holodeck simulation of the scenario over twenty times. He's frustrated he can't do any better. He's named it, you know. Your little stunt is called the 'Emrys Maneuver.'"

"I keep trying to get the computer to accept it as a valid tactic, but it just boosts the volume until it's deafening and says the same thing over and over for hours.

"This procedure is NOT recommended. This procedure is NOT recommended."

"I think it may actually be some kind of primitive survival instinct. None of the ensigns can even order breakfast without the approval of the Captain or the First Officer. The computer seems to believe inexperience was the cause of the 'separation," Morgana said. "Clearly it should have considered insanity."

"Starfleet briefly considered you a possible spy. Most Romulan operatives would consider themselves having contributed a life's worth of work if they managed to destroy a Sovereign-class Starship."

Morgana continued. "However, taking out a d'Deridex-class Romulan Warbird pretty much balances the equation. Plus, the ship carries nearly 1500 officers. Twice as many as your ship, and all now in custody."

"They also decided your complete lack of attempt to cover your tracks was beyond stupid, and you were therefore also not a Romulan spy. They're always brilliant."

She looked amused as she glanced at the Captain. "There is one positive in all this, sir."

"AND WHAT THE HELL WOULD THAT BE?" the Captain yelled.

"At least our ship will have that new car smell."

The captain was NOT amused. Both the ensign AND the commander ended up bolting as he lunged for his usually decorative sword. It was blunt, but he could give them a good spanking with it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Unending Passion**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 6**

The Captain decided to use the slow return to Earth as an opportunity for training. He also implemented a strenuous exercise plan.

Unfortunately for everyone, it would take them much longer to reach Earth than normal. Possibly a week. Maybe two. The arduous training schedule would be going on for a while. The U.S.S. Yamato wasn't designed as a tugboat. It could only drag the Excalibur behind it at warp 8 instead of it's usual warp 9. There was nowhere to escape on the overcrowded ship. Most of the quarters on the Excalibur had been destroyed by the impact with the Warbird. Everyone was sharing quarters with the Yamato crew. It didn't make for a comfortable situation with twice the number of people on the ship than normal. The crew had to continually remind themselves that the lack of space and the exercise program were probably less strenuous than Romulan captivity. Probably. Merlin wasn't greeted with cheers after the first few days. Now he got far more glares.

At least Gwen was still friendly with him. The new training schedule wasn't impacting her like some of the others, though. She was already in phenomenal shape. She didn't have nearly as much to be upset about.

"Are you coming to the defense training session on Holodeck Two this morning, Merlin? You've got to stop hiding eventually. Just come along and things will get better. Promise!" Gwen said.

She didn't mention the fact that some of the glares weren't glares, but looks of amazement. The young man had saved everyone from Romulan captivity and he had done it all by himself. She expected there were some Admirals who would be impressed to meet him.

There was a bet that Merlin could make the Captain pass out for a third time before they reached Earth. The gas counted as one. So did the unpleasant wake up immediately after it. The betting was heavy on both sides. The Captain had heard about the bet from Commander Morgana. She had put her money on the ensign, much to his irritation. The Captain decided it was time to turn the tables, and a defense training session was the ideal place to do it.

The Captain smiled as he changed into his formal martial arts clothing.

* * *

Captain Pendragon stood on the holodeck wearing his black belt. He also wore a red cord around his bicep, a silver bracelet on his wrist, and he had a mark of blue paint on his forehead. The Tellarite who recognized it slumped in defeat before the lesson even started. The Captain had mastered many martial arts from many worlds.

He put all the new recruits through this training eventually. He always won, and he always fought unarmed. The walls of the holodeck training facility were lined with weapons from every culture. It gave the ensigns an opportunity to 'take on' their Captain with a weapon they were familiar with. Some made the mistake in believing that would help them.

"Now, try to disable me as quickly as possible. Use any means you are aware of to attempt it. Use any weapon in the holodeck to assist you. Bathlets, knives, clubs, anything. I think you'll be surprised at what a human with the right training can do."

Most saw it for what it was. An exercise in futility. However, a few always thought they had a chance against him. They didn't. He had mastered the art of not being where an assailant expected him years before. He could pummel them at his leisure while they struck at air, but he was usually merciful.

It was time to weed out the arrogant ones. He stretched and gestured for the first one to attack. It took him half an hour to deal with the bravest of them. Now it was time to deal with the most annoying.

"Ensign Emrys. I've been looking forward to this for some time," The Captain said.

That generated a few laughs from the ensigns. After crashing the Captain's starship into the Starbase doors, "separating" it a few days later and gassing him in the process, they expected the Captain to be more than slightly irritated at their comrade.

Captain Pendragon turned to the ensigns, still teaching the class even as he chopped his way through them with ease.

"Remember, Emrys is part Romulan. His strength is nearly twice mine. Trust me, this is a battle of wits, not strength," he said sagely to the ensigns. He turned to focus on Merlin.

"Attack me, Emrys. Now."

Merlin paused to consider the hopeless situation. Then he reached his arm around Commander Morgana's back and tapped her on the opposite shoulder. As she turned her head to see who was tapping her, he slid the phaser out of the distracted woman's holster and aimed it at the Captain.

His horrified target managed to yell out, "NOT THE PHAS..." before an orange beam hit him in the chest and propelled him backwards, slamming him into a wall. The simulation actually flickered from the impact. Everyone winced at the crumpling sound as he hit the deck. The holodeck enhanced effects were impressive! Then they looked at their colleague.

Merlin lifted the phaser until it pointed vertically toward the ceiling and quickly blew over the top of it before handing it back to Morgana. Phasers didn't generate smoke after firing, but the gesture still meant the same thing centuries later. The humans explained the little "victory ritual" to their other colleagues and the laughter became universal.

Morgana raised an eyebrow as she studied the ensign. Novel approach! It never would have occurred to her. Clearly it hadn't to the Captain, either. The young man had a unique ability to see beyond the obvious solutions.

Then both her eyebrows shot up. "Any means, any weapon," she whispered in amazement. By the Captain's criteria, the young man had beaten him. Captain Pendragon's unbroken record just got broken. Even better, she had wagered on the ensign. THIS was something she'd be quite delighted to tell the Captain herself!

She ran over to him and studied him briefly. Something was very wrong. The impact hadn't been a holodeck effect. She cursed before tapping her chest. She spoke a few words and they both disappeared in a wash of light.

The class hadn't noticed the two senior officers. They were too focused on their friend. None of Merlin's colleagues were glaring at him in irritation anymore. Every look was one of amazement. The Tellerite howled with delight, shocking the rest of the group. He explained that their friend had defeated a blue-level master. Merlin would be wearing the blue paint of victory for the next week. Their cheers drowned out his comment about the Captain's future.

The young Tellerite hoped he'd be the one to report it to the homeworld first. There were a lot of very skilled people who had worn yellow over the years because of Pendragon. It would be celebrated news.

He would be celebrating more, but he heard the First Officer say "Sickbay" before she beamed away with the prone man.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 7**

Captain Pendragon slowly opened his eyes. He heard the soft beeping of Sickbay around him. He blinked against the glare and spotted Morgana looking at him with concern. He relaxed. Then he looked to the other side of the bed and spotted Merlin. He recoiled before regaining his calm.

"I can't remember the last time I was in Sickbay and you weren't standing over me. This is like some nightmare. You're trying to kill me now, aren't you, ensign. Actually kill me."

"Sir, I thought the phasers had been modified for practice. They should have been operating at ten per cent power. Maximum would have been enough to make you dizzy, but certainly not enough to knock you out! I didn't realize Commander Morgana's was unmodified. I swear, I would have turned it down before I shot you. I still would have shot you, but it would have been a lower setting."

"How long have I been unconscious?" the Captain asked his first officer as he glared at the ensign. No apology for shooting him. He was impressed in spite of himself. Then he heard his First Officer's response.

"Fourteen hours. The effect of maximum stun was considerable at that distance. I should have carried a holophaser myself, but I find the real thing tends to impress new ensigns with its power," Morgana explained.

"I am suitably impressed by its power as well, I assure you," the Captain replied groggily. "I'm also happy it was locked on stun. Knowing Emrys, the results would have been most unfortunate otherwise," he said. He tried to sit up, but just ended up wincing. The ensign had a unique skill in giving him headaches. He glared at him as he fell back onto the bed. Sitting up wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.

"Sorry again, Captain," Merlin sighed. "The phaser impact actually lifted you off your feet and shot you through the air for about five metres until you hit the wall. It broke your collarbone." The Captain reached up to touch his aching shoulder. He glowered as Merlin continued.

"That might not have been so bad, but you hit the wall about three metres above the deck. The fall was what broke your arm. Commander Gaius ordered you beamed directly to Sickbay when he heard Morgana's description of the incident. He was far more worried about the impacts than the stun effect. Oh, you also dislocated your right arm and sprained your ankle, too. I saved the worst for last though. One of your ribs punctured a lung. You're fine though. Gaius said you'd have died if you hadn't gone to Sickbay." He looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"ANYTHING ELSE?" the Captain shouted, increasing the pain of his headache significantly.

"No, Sir. I think that's about it. Oh, the four missing teeth, but that's all! I swear the artificial ones look as good as the real ones did!"

The Captain ran his tongue along his teeth and then shook his head. They felt the same. He didn't care. He had more important things to worry about. Like his life.

"You really are trying to kill me," he muttered. "I'm going to wear a phaser everywhere I go from now on. I want a fighting chance against you, and I think the only way I'll get that is to keep you several metres away at all times and stun you if you get any closer."

"I'm afraid you haven't considered another factor, Captain," the commander mentioned casually.

"You're a blue-level master who issued a challenge and received a mortal wound as a result. You remember what that means, don't you?"

She paused to think of all the high-ranking officers who had fallen to the Captain's skill in combat over the years, including herself. She knew how many of them it would please to see the Captain's reaction to her next words.

"You lost," she whispered, barely controlling her glee.

He looked at her, completely confused.

"Would you like the yellow paint of shame now or later?" she asked innocently. She held up a small bottle of yellow liquid.

The Captain turned to Merlin with a look of horror. His splitting headache had distracted him before, but now she mentioned it he could see a streak of blue above the ensign's eyebrow.

"SON OF A..." Pendragon yelled, almost completing the phrase before he gasped from the pain and whimpered. A few seconds later he looked up at Merlin again. The sight of Emrys did nothing to ease his anger.

He felt a bit more forgiving as the ensign's fingers brushed his forehead while applying the yellow paint. He heard a soft thought accompany the brush.

_**sorryprettyman**_

He was still irritated, though. His instant response came without thought.

_**shutupidiot**_

Merlin and the Captain snickered as Morgana watched on curiously. She'd love to know why both of them were smiling like that. She began to consider a number of other factors. Her smile grew to match theirs, but for a very different reason.

* * *

The fleet was ecstatic. Captain Pendragon had been defeated in combat! Some of the ensigns were selling images of the incident on the Fleetwide auction service. The favourite by far was from a holodeck reconstructed camera angle just behind Merlin. It showed the beam lifting the Captain several meters off the deck, just before he hit the wall. The expression on his face was priceless.

The Captain heard about their little enterprise. An intensely irritated Pendragon dragged them into his office and ordered them to explain themselves. Once they did, their fearless leader just rolled his eyes and replicated a pen.

"Defeated Pendragon" photos hand-autographed by the Captain were bringing in thousands of credits from officers all over the fleet. More than enough to keep the crew of both the Excalibur and their hosts on the Yamato soused in well-aged Saurian brandy for the week. A gift the Captain felt they deserved. Emrys was quickly forgiven for the exercise program.

Ensign Gwen was on duty at Communications for several days after the "incident." She stopped counting when the number of "condolences on his loss" from other officers reached a hundred.

* * *

.

A/N: A special thank you to everyone who's reviewed the story so far. Reviews help me figure out which stories people like so I can write more like them. Cheers!


	8. Chapter 8

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 8**

"Captain, the Yamato is entering standard orbit around Earth. Tugs are pulling the two parts of the Excalibur to the repair facility at Utopia Planetia," his first officer informed him.

The captain ground his teeth every time he was updated on the status of the "pieces" of his ship.

"Thank you, Commander. Please inform the crew that shore leave has been authorized for all Excalibur staff. We'll report to the new ship in a week. Inform Ensign Emrys to meet me in Transporter Room Two in one hour. We both have some explaining to do. The inquiry's informal, but attendance is most certainly mandatory," the Captain said with a growl at the world in general.

The yellow paint would be embarrassing to explain to the Admirals. Then he relaxed. He was certain everyone in the Federation knew of his defeat already thanks to his industrious photo-selling ensigns.

"Understood, Sir," Commander Morgana said with a barely concealed grin. The inquiry was being conducted by Admiral Teradin. He had been one of the many to fall to the Captain in combat over the years. The yellow streak on Pendragon's forehead would delight him.

* * *

A very nervous ensign joined the Captain in the transporter room an hour later. An hour and ten minutes, actually. The Captain didn't even bother pointing it out. He had a feeling it wouldn't have helped. He decided to update the ensign instead.

"Well, Emrys. The board of inquiry wants to speak with both of us. Honestly, I think the reason they want to question you is to meet the person who beat me in combat."

"I hope I don't disappoint them much, sir. After all, I didn't really defeat you in combat. As you said, it was more a 'battle of wits' that I won," he said with a small smile that cut through the anxious look on his face briefly.

"Just... Never mind," the Captain muttered. "Energize."

The two men disappeared in a shimmer of light.

* * *

Captain Pendragon grumbled as he walked away from the reception desk. Some things never changed. Like scheduling conflicts and clueless support staff. Starfleet always assigned ten new ensigns to admin positions when three experienced officers would have been much more useful.

"I can't believe they screwed up the schedule. They can talk to other star systems in seconds, and they can't call a ship in orbit to update me," the Captain growled as he glared at the receptionist. She glared back. She had to deal with cranky Admirals every day of her life. The cranky Captain didn't impress her.

"I guess we'll just spend the next few hours waiting. I'll return to the ship, sir," Merlin replied quickly after he heard the growl. He didn't want to spend any length of time with an irritated Captain and the yellow paint of shame wasn't helping the Captain's mood.

Neither was the upcoming questioning. It was at the edge of his awareness, but he could sense the Captain's perfectly controlled anxiety. Clearly ten very curious Admirals asking questions about a "separated" Starship were enough to cause him stress as well. It disappeared as he looked at Merlin and relaxed.

"No need to return to the ship, Ensign. Please refresh my memory. You spent most of your time on Vulcan until you came to the Academy, correct?" the Captain asked, even though he already knew the answer. He knew almost everything known about the ensign. The young man had become a bit of an obsession.

"Yes, Captain. I spent most of my time in the desert communities. Being part human AND part Romulan was a bit too much for many Vulcans to be comfortable with. A shamelessly emotional young man with pointed ears disturbed them. There's a pretty simple rule they follow whenever anyone displays emotion in public."

"Round ears, Human. Not your fault if you're rude," Merlin said. "Pointed ears, Vulcan. Rude by choice."

"Even worse, they were really freaked out by the Romulan part. As freaked out as Vulcans get. The mix between humans and their lost brothers was very disturbing to many. I stayed with some small isolated desert communities. They were uncomfortable, too, but they came to know me and eventually it didn't bother them anymore. Cities were always full of people who didn't know me. I didn't make it comfortable for others there."

"You can't be serious! I find it hard to believe you faced discrimination on Vulcan. They represent the height of Federation ethics."

"They'd never discriminate! It wouldn't even occur to them. They'd just never be comfortable," he said sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Emrys. Coming to the Academy from a small community must have been a massive culture shock."

He watched the Ensign's nervous reaction. Most comfortable in small, isolated communities? The Captain played one of his hunches so irritating to T'Lar. No discernible logic, but more often right than wrong.

"Ensign, did you leave the Academy grounds when you were in San Francisco?"

"Uh, no sir. Well, not often. I did beam some places with friends, but never for very long. I spent most of my time indoors. The foggy weather in San Francisco doesn't do much for Romulans."

The Captain tapped his lower lip, deep in thought. "How about this. We've got several hours before our meeting. Have you ever seen the Muir Woods?" he asked.

"No, Sir. They always sounded scary."

"You're in for a treat, then." He tapped his communicator. "Yamato. Two to beam directly to the Muir Woods Conservation Trail. Energize." The familiar sparkle engulfed them.

They beamed into a cathedral of life.

* * *

-

**A/N**: You asked for more telepathy and I am happy to oblige! More will follow in the next chapter.

Please let me know if you find both the humour and the romance parts of the story interesting, or if you'd prefer the focus to be on one or the other. I find writing both parts a lot of fun but I always listen to my readers. Really! I may not agree, but I always listen. In the past I've made major changes to my stories based on reviews. Your opinions make a difference!

Cheers!

JulieGee


	9. Chapter 9

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 9**

As the world rematerialized around them, Merlin relaxed visibly. The Captain could understand why. Everything was lightly scented with the smell of fresh leaves and warm soil. Birds flew through the temperate rainforest in graceful arcs. The ensign no longer looked worried. He looked around, spotting some trees a few metres away.

"These are the lifeforms?" he asked as he pointed to several straggly trees. He sounded unimpressed.

The Captain chuckled and spoke softly. "They're lifeforms, but they're not the lifeforms I was referring to. THOSE are the lifeforms," he said.

Merlin looked confused. "There's a small river. Geophysical formations. Fallen leaves. Where are they?"

"Those aren't geophysical formations, Ensign," he replied with a smile. He hadn't visited the woods with many people. Morgana often joined him in a walk along the path as his mother once did. Somehow the ensign seemed to fit into that category of people in his life. He always looked forward to the reaction of someone who'd never seen them before.

"Look up. Way up."

Merlin looked up as instructed. His eyes widened as his face went slack. The Captain had a similar reaction the first time he saw them as a child. They were unfathomable. People who witnessed the sight were never quite the same again. A galaxy can make you feel small. Somehow these could make you feel smaller.

"Captain, what are they?" Merlin whispered.

"They're called Redwoods. They're trees. Plants. Some are over a hundred metres tall. Some have been alive for thousands of years," the Captain replied in a soft voice again. The decrease in volume was instinctive. The woods felt like some kind of natural cathedral. Speaking normally seemed like a desecration.

Merlin gasped as the magnitude of the 'plants' overwhelmed him. The massive pillars reached for the sky and seemed to catch it.

"They're beautiful. There's so much life here. Above. Below. All around. I can sense it. Vulcan has nothing like this. The sparsity there has its own beauty, but this is spectacular. The sunlight broken up by the foliage in the canopy. The dapples of light falling on everything. The way the stability of these ancient trees mixes with the fluidity of the transient sunlight," Merlin whispered.

The Captain raised an eyebrow. He was impressed. The young man had an artistic streak. Ancient stability vs. transient fluidity? Merlin observed more with a glance than most did after serious study. The Captain had often wished for such perception. Such instant understanding of the magnitude of things. He would never admit it to anyone, but he always had to calculate the magnification factor on a Starship's viewscreen. The complex calculation took him less than a second, but he had to do it. Something made him think Merlin wouldn't have to. He'd just know when he was looking at a star from a thousand kilometres away or a million. He'd sense where he fit into it all.

His concentration evaporated as Merlin looked back at him and smiled his stunning smile.

Small patches of sunlight accented the ensign's blue-black hair. The colour of his eyes appeared to flash gold as dapples of light moved across them. The ensign was watching him just as intently. The young man leaned towards him and predictably lost his footing on a moss-covered stone. The Captain caught him as he fell, supporting him in his arms.

_thankyouarthur_

_noproblemmerlin_

Both men blinked at each other as Merlin regained his footing.

"I didn't know a human could respond telepathically. Not like that, at least. The ones who can usually sound like they're far away. That was so clear. So real. I'm not sure we should tell anyone about this. The Vulcan Science Academy will want to do everything short of dissecting us. In fact they'd probably want to, but they wouldn't. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't."

As the Captain paused to consider the risk, he caught a scent of something exotic.

Exotic for a human born on Earth, at least. A slightly floral scent mixed with a mysterious spice. It was the scent of the ensign a few centimetres away. Neither quite Human or Romulan. More a wonderful combination, much like him. The Captain turned around quickly, more to hide his 'excitement' than to witness the stunning plants again. The young man continued thoughtfully, mercifully oblivious to his Captain's condition.

"There are precedents for this kind of communication, but only between people who have known each other for a long time. We haven't, have we?" the ensign asked.

"No. I don't think so. Although now you mention it, I seem to remember finding you irritating many times before," the Captain replied with a smile to soften his words. Right now it didn't matter. The scheduling conflict wouldn't last forever.

"We should head back and grab some lunch before the meeting. I know a wonderful restaurant in New Orleans. The owner's the father of a close friend of mine," the Captain said. "They serve the best catfish anywhere."

The ensign shuddered. The Captain almost kicked himself as he remembered the young man's dietary preferences. Catfish didn't sound like anything a vegetarian would want to eat. He remembered T'Lar's comment on the issue. "I don't eat animals and if a plant's smart enough to run away, I let it," she said. Thankfully the resourceful ensign seemed to have an alternative.

"There's another option that won't involve dead things. Emrys to Yamato. Run program Merthur-Two. Hold out your hand, Captain."

A hot dog appeared in the Captain's hand at the same time an apple promptly materialized in Merlin's. He smiled as he realized the ensign remembered the mustard and relish on his hot dog.

"A picnic it is! Wait. Merthur-Two? How did you know to program it in advance?" the Captain asked.

"I just had a feeling we might find it handy after the holodeck Camelot program. I hoped we would, at least," he said with a shy smile.

"If this is Merthur-Two, what's Merthur-One?" the Captain asked.

The ensign blushed. "I'm pretty sure we won't be using that program anytime soon," he replied.

"Try me," the Captain said with a grin. He selected the kind of gaze that made young women all over the quadrant melt. Merlin shuddered under the intensity of his sapphire eyes as he struggled to control his reaction. Then he remembered the Captain's request.

"No! I mean, trying you is kinda what Merthur-One is all about," he said as he looked at the ground, clearly attempting to refocus his attention on something other than the Captain's eyes.

"Trying me?" the Captain asked. The phrase could mean many things. Some of them were very intriguing to him. Some of them shouldn't be as intriguing as they were. He was rapidly ceasing to care.

"It's, um, a battle simulation. That's it! A battle simulation. I don't think you'd like it, though. It's a basic training program. Mainly hand-to-um..." He turned an even deeper shade of green as the blue-eyed man studied him closely.

The Captain's eyes narrowed. He could almost sense something from the ensign. Not anxiety this time. Something very different. Something much more stressful to the young man than ten Admirals asking very difficult questions. He decided not to consider it further. At least not now. It was distracting. Very distracting. He ended the awkward silence with a suggestion.

"Why don't we go for a stroll while we eat lunch. The redwoods are even more beautiful further along the path," he said.

"Of course, Sir. I really should have visited here before now," he said as he shook his head in amazement at the scene. It was followed by a sniffle. "It's really damp here, though. If you'd like, I can show you a place I enjoy instead. It's beautiful there and something wonderful is about to happen. I've never shown anyone else, but I'd like to show you."

"Certainly," the Captain replied with a nod. He had learned a lot about the ensign in the past hour. He was intrigued by this opportunity to study the young man further and the offer seemed to have a deeper meaning. The ensign clearly intended to show him something very personal. Something wonderful.

Merlin tapped his communicator and spoke softly. The beautiful sylvan glade disappeared in a wash of light.

They beamed into a nightmare.


	10. Chapter 10

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 10**

The sun burned overhead in unrelenting fury. He was surrounded by sand. The ground felt like a blast furnace as a grit-filled breeze abraded his skin. It wasn't doing much for his breathing, either.

"Ensign! Where the hell are we?" the Captain managed to gasp out. He started trying to breathe through his sleeve. It didn't seem to be helping much.

"Deep in the Sahara Preserve. There's no high-tech weather control in this area. Just the desert like it was meant to be. Follow me along the path. We have to climb the next dune. It'll only take a few minutes," the ensign assured him.

The captain chose to follow close behind. Path? All he could see was sand and more sand. He took off after the eager ensign, stumbling constantly as he struggled to breathe through the dust, feet sinking deeply into the sand with every step. Sweat started to run down his face, caused by his exertion in the blazing heat. Tears from his nearly sun-blinded eyes mixed with it.

"See? Isn't it incredible?" Merlin shouted as they slowly climbed the dune.

The Captain shielded his eyes. "Sand! All I see is sand!"

"Yeah, but it's a different kind of sand! See the dividing line on that dune over there? If you look closely, you..." Merlin said before turning and sniffing the air.

"Wait! It's starting. It's why I wanted to visit here now. With you. It's very rare. You have to see this," Merlin said excitedly. Both men crested the dune. The Captain gasped as he saw the wall moving towards them at a stunning speed.

"ENSIGN! WHAT THE HELL IS..."

He staggered backwards as the full force of the blast hit him.

"It's a sandstorm. Class 5!" Merlin yelled into his ear. "There's usually only one or two a year at this intensity. I asked the Yamato computer to track it in case the inquiry finished early. I wanted to see one like this again. Isn't it amazing? This one's different, though. Louder. Harder to see through. It just makes it more beautiful."

The ensign looked delighted. Then he studied his captain closely through milky eyes and winced.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot. You don't have an inner eyelid like Romulans, do you? This can't be much fun for you. Lets just get back to the ship. You're turning pink. Really pink! Don't you ever go outside in real sunlight?"

The Captain struggled to reply, but all he could do was cough.

Merlin's communicator chirped. It took his sensitive hearing to hear it through the howl of the sandstorm.

"There's a message from the Admiralty! They're ready to talk to us now and they're already running behind schedule. You know how that always delights Admirals! I'll just have us beamed to Starfleet Command directly. It should only take us a few minutes to clean up," he shouted over the wind.

"Emrys to Starfleet Command. Two to beam to the Admiralty transporter facility. Energize!"

The captain's eyes widened. They couldn't widen much in the sandstorm, but they did. Running behind schedule? Admirals? They weren't going to wait for them to walk from the transporter room. They weren't going to wait, period.

The captain was fighting for air. He didn't get his objection out in time. The world sparkled as they disappeared.

* * *

They reappeared in the middle of a group of very senior admirals.

A very surprised group of very senior admirals.

"Captain, are you quite all right?" one of the very senior admirals asked as he stared in shock at the sand-covered officers. The admirals had wanted to save time. They had diverted the officers' transport directly to the courtroom. It clearly hadn't been the best idea.

Merlin brushed the sand off his uniform efficiently. His Vulcan "bowl cut" restored itself to a glossy raven-black with a casual shake, regaining its usual shape instantly. There was a reason Vulcans were so fond of the hairstyle. They had to deal with a lot of sand. They were experts in the field.

Then Merlin saw the Captain. He had seen him only vaguely through the dust storm.

The Captain was sunburned from his fifteen minutes in the desert at noon. His bright red face was covered with streaks of mud where his tears had mixed with the dust adhering to it. Dark stains covered the front of his uniform and under his arms. His hair was stunning, and not in the good way. It was at least twice its normal width and about three times its usual height. It certainly wasn't going to be restored with a shake!

The Captain continued coughing uncontrollably, his dust-filled lungs fighting for air. He could barely breathe. His vision began to sparkle and this time a transporter had nothing to do with it. Merlin grabbed him as he started to fall to his knees.

A crisp voice issued a command. The Captain heard the soft whirr of a medical scanner, and then the hiss of a hypo against his skin. His breathing became much easier. As the red motes left his vision, he found himself looking into the eyes of a legend. It took a few more seconds of coughing to restore his voice.

"Thank you, Doctor McCoy," he said, followed by another cough. It was common knowledge that the admiral preferred to be called "Doctor."

"Not a problem, Captain. Trust me, you're not the first Starship captain I've treated. I've learned never to go anywhere without my little black bag," the doctor said.

"Medkit," he clarified at the look of confusion on the Captain's face.

"Children," the doctor muttered with a frustrated shake of his head.

In this case the ancient admiral was referring to the captain as well as the ensign. He glanced at the transporter logs on his tablet. He had requested them as soon as he saw the captain. He paused to kick at the little machine that rushed from the wall as soon as it saw the pile of sand growing around the two officers. It dodged, blurped its disapproval and scuttled a few feet away, awaiting another opportunity to leap on the growing pile.

"You beamed from the Sahara Preserve? What took you into the heart of the Sahara? It's noon there isn't it?" the doctor asked after a quick look at the man's bright red skin. "Not a life threatening sunburn, but still. Severe windburn, too," he muttered as he checked the logs again. "How did you manage to get windburn?" His tablet chirped as the computer updated him on information it felt might be useful in the current context. He glanced down at it.

"The Sahara Weather Bureau just declared an environmental emergency. There's a... WHAT? A CLASS 7 SANDSTORM? Even shuttlecraft are diverting around it! They're worried their shields might fail!"

"WOW! So that's why it was so intense," Merlin said excitedly. "I thought it was just a Class 5. I've always wanted to see a Class 7. They only form every ten years or so. I can't believe how lucky we were! Can we go back and see it again?" he asked, actually bouncing with delight at the thought.

Nine of the Admirals and his horrified captain looked at him like he was insane. Even the little cleaning machine stopped its plotting and paused to consider the suggestion. It called for backup just in case the unwise ensign decided to try it.

The one Vulcan admiral looked intrigued. She had always wanted to see a Class 7 sandstorm, and unlike the unfortunate human gasping in front of her she was built to withstand it. For a few minutes, at least. Maybe ten minutes if she controlled her breathing aggressively. Hopefully the storm would last until the inquiry was over. She refocused on the struggling captain.

"Picnic. Just supposed to be a picnic," the Captain said through another fit of coughing. "Not assassination attempt. Picnic."

"Captain, what constitutes a picnic for someone of Vulcan decent is very different than for a human," the doctor said. "You seem fine now, although perhaps an abbreviated inquiry is in order. And get rid of that," he muttered with a gesture at his patient.

The captain blinked as he looked down. The sand covered remains of his hot dog were still clenched in his white-knuckled fist. He dropped it and jumped as the delighted little cleaning machine leapt on it and started dragging the unrecognizable object away, trailing sand behind it.

He was still having difficulty speaking. He grabbed Merlin's hand.

_picnic?_

_notassassination?_

the captain thought as he looked at Merlin in desperation, the uncertainty in his panicked thoughts evident.

_picnic_

the ensign assured him.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you're enjoying our heroes' continued adventures. I'm eagerly waiting to see if this story breaks a hundred reviews. New record for me!

Oh, BTW, I didn't think to clarify until now, but for my readers unfamiliar with Trek stuff, Romulans and Vulcans share a common ancestry. They're essentially the same physically. The Romulan part of Merlin is dominant but his Human half complicates things in very funny ways later on in the story.

Cheers!


	11. Chapter 11

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 11**

The admirals granted the disheveled Captain Pendragon another day to prepare himself for the inquiry and much to the exhausted captain's delight, his quarters on the new Excalibur were ready. He beamed there directly to avoid as much hair-related embarrassment as possible. He promptly collapsed on the bed and took an unplanned nap. A very necessary one.

A few hours later, the captain woke to the sound of a shy voice coming from his communicator.

"Captain? It's Ensign Emrys. Just wondering if you could validate my meal pass. The computer still won't let any ensigns order food without a senior officer's confirmation."

The captain rolled his eyes. Clearly the ship still felt threatened by the inexperienced officers. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"I'm hungry, too, which isn't surprising considering my lunch was half a hot dog. Emrys, drop by my quarters in twenty minutes and we'll figure out something for dinner. Pendragon out."

* * *

"Come!" the captain said as the doorbell twittered softly. The young ensign entered a few moments later and froze as the doors whooshed shut behind him.

The captain had finished his sonic shower only a few moments before. What should have been a two minute shower turned into a fifteen minute scrubbing. There was a lot of sand everywhere! He stepped out of the shower completely dry. A towel hadn't even occurred to him.

Merlin's eyes widened as he saw the captain's perfect body. The captain's martial arts training on the holodeck was rigorous. His chest was perfect. He briefly glanced lower before blushing.

"Wow," he murmured.

"What was that, ensign?"

"Uh, nothing. Never mind, sir. Um, Captain, I swear I didn't know what the sandstorm would do to you. AND I didn't know it was a Class 7," Merlin said. "I just wanted to show you a place I love. I hope you believe me."

The captain glowered and then relaxed. "I believe you. I felt that much when I grabbed your hand. Listen, you seem more adaptable to extreme environments than I am. How about I choose the place for dinner?"

"That sounds great! Although anywhere remotely involving snow is an environment you're much better adapted to. I can't generate enough body heat to live very long," Merlin said with concern.

"Then we'll avoid the snow. How about another compromise. It shouldn't be too humid this time of year, and the weather's usually pretty warm. How about we follow my lunch suggestion and visit that restaurant in New Orleans I mentioned? We've got reservations for dinner at Sisko's, if you'd like."

"I'd like that! As long as I don't have to eat a 'catfish.' It sounds like two animals in one," he said with a shiver. "Is it a cat? A cat would be worse. They have pointy ears."

"It's a fish, it has no ears, and it's not a problem," the captain said patiently. "They make some wonderful Cajun cuisine based on a plant called okra. I'm sure you'll love it. Most of Mr. Sisko's dishes are vegetarian. Most of his customers are, too."

The captain stopped in front of his closet and chose a suit based on golds and browns, designed to accent his blond hair. Then he paused and looked at Merlin as a disturbing thought occurred to him.

"Ensign, do you have any civilian clothes?"

"Uh, no. I just wear my uniform wherever I go. Sometimes I look out of place, but no one ever makes fun of me. At least not for long. This is much more than a uniform to most people. They know the people who wear it deserve respect. The ones who disagree shut up pretty quickly when they see everyone else glaring at them."

The captain smiled. He knew what the ensign meant, although he faced the opposite problem. His captain's rank was fairly distinctive, as was his blond hair. People from Saridin Prime made a lot of fuss when they found out who he was. Unlike the ensign, he wasn't facing teasing. He was facing adulation. That was something he always preferred to avoid.

"There's a time and a place for everything, ensign. New Orleans at night during the spring calls for something dressy yet informal. I can help you if you'd like. I'm pretty good with fashion."

"Of course you are. You're good at everything," the young man said with a roll of his eyes.

"Not everything. I've got a lot to learn in the romance department. I'm a master of seduction, but romance... Not so much."

"Good point," Merlin muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. Where do we start?" the ensign asked.

"We start here! Computer, display a selection of current Terran fashion for males, 190 centimetres tall, slender, green skin tone, beautiful blue eyes," Arthur said as he watched them sparkle.

"The colour 'Beautiful Blue' is unknown. Please specify hue, saturation..." the computer replied.

"Stop! Just... Deep blue," the captain clarified with a blush.

"Nature of article?" the computer asked.

"Full outfit. We'll start with the shirt and work down," the captain said as stood back, narrowed his eyes and studied the ensign. Merlin blushed instantly. Thankfully it went unnoticed.

The captain selected the base articles as the computer displayed acceptable alternates. He chose a dark green shirt to contrast the ensign's light green skin. When the computer couldn't recommend any other items he turned and took a closer look at the ensign.

"That's why! Your blue eyes don't go with your skin tone. You clash with yourself!" the captain said as he shook his head disapprovingly. Merlin wasn't happy.

"I CLASH WITH MYSELF?" he yelled. Much like when he shot the annoying human on the holodeck, he had no intention of apologizing for it.

"Wait! I didn't mean..."

"I don't clash if you're someone who can see the 'full spectrum' of light, like Romulans can. I'd match if you could see infrared!" he said confidently. "Don't tell me I look bad because of your disability!"

The captain chuckled. "Point taken. Let me try something," he said. He opened one of his drawers and took out a small shiny device.

"Just look into it and try not to blink. It'll take longer if you do," he said as he studied the silver pen-like device briefly.

Merlin looked at the tip of the silver pen as the captain raised it to one of his eyes. There was a flash of white. "Look in the mirror, ensign."

Merlin turned to the mirror. One of his eyes was still blue, but the one the captain had worked on was a rich brown. It flashed gold in the light, almost as if by magic.

The captain smiled. "That's better. I can build an outfit around that. At least one for this evening. We'll take some time and figure out the blue/green thing another day. Do you like it?"

"Yes! Most Romulans have brown eyes. I've always wondered what I'd look like with them. I just look into this thing and they'll change back?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes. Just tell it what colour you'd like your eyes to appear, or specify 'natural' to return to your regular colour. I haven't used it in years," he replied. He took a few seconds to colour Merlin's other eye.

The Federation was essentially a moneyless society, but trade with other financial systems required credits. The captain, well on his way to being an Admiral, made a shocking amount of them every year. He never used them. He lived on his Starship and replicators provided every luxury he needed. The meaningless numbers just kept growing in his account somewhere.

This device had been a luxury that couldn't be replicated. He had accessed his account for the first time in years to pay the Ferengi merchant nearly a decade ago, and he ended up using it only four times. However, getting a chance to use it while playing 'dress the ensign' made it worth the expense. The captain had grown up with three sisters. He had been in the ensign's position more than once. He hadn't enjoyed it. It sure was a lot of fun from the other side, though!

"Um, captain, there's something else I've always wanted to try. I was going to test it out on the holodeck first, but... Could I use your hair beamy-thing? I just need to change a few settings," he asked. He disappeared at the nod of approval.

The 'hair beamy-thing' styled the captain's hair automatically. A good hair brush would have done the job, but it would have taken time and effort. The device had all sorts of other settings he never used. It could lengthen hair as well as trim, colour and style it. The successful eye colour experiment seemed to give the ensign the confidence to try out a much more radical change. The captain's jaw dropped when Merlin stepped back into the room.

"Ensign! Your hair!"

Merlin smiled shyly. "It's called 'ash blond.' I also had to change my hairstyle or it would have looked silly. It's still kind of a 'bowl cut' but it looks much less severe. They're called 'bangs.' I was viewing some history texts and I saw a look I liked. I think the guy was a politician."

"You look so familiar. It'll bother me until I figure it out. Computer, who does he look like with his new hairstyle? Take all physical parameters into account. Include stance and musculature."

"The ensign resembles 43 million people significantly."

"Earth history, only. A politician, I think. An important one. Try narrowing the search to the late 20th through early 22nd centuries. Most significant match, only."

"The ensign resembles U.N. Secretary-General Zachary D. A. Efron between the ages of twenty and thirty-eight. Resemblance ceases at age thirty-nine after the injury Efron sustained when he seized control of the United Nations Security Council in an attempt to consolidate his power base before naming himself Supreme Commander of the Northern Alliance. Code 10 addendum follows."

"Thank you!" Arthur said. "I'm afraid you won't get the chance to meet him, ensign. Efron died centuries ago," he murmured distractedly as he studied Merlin.

"Brown eyes and blond hair. That calls for something neutral. Blacks, greys and whites. Computer?"

"Primary outfit selected, base colour coal black," the computer replied as an image of the clothing appeared on the screen.

"Good! Almost perfect. Shift the colour to compliment Ensign Emrys' dominant skin and hair tones," the captain said as he studied Merlin again. The computer considered the now-blond ensign and changed the colour slightly.

"Now it's perfect! Computer, replicate this outfit. Include appropriate accoutrements in complimentary shades. And no white socks with black shoes."

It didn't matter which century you lived in, or even which planet you lived on. Some things were NEVER in style!

The replicator sparkled and a small pile of clothing appeared. Merlin disappeared with them.

The Captain took the time to pull up the additional Code 10 information on the great politician. He was one of the few thousand people in a Federation of trillions with a security clearance that high. There were some Federation planetary leaders with lower access levels than his. When he saw the addendum to the 'official' record, he shook his head. Amazing! It explained a great many things.

Vulcans hadn't made first contact, after all. Zakef'Ron's people had, and unlike the Vulcans they believed in interfering! At least it had all worked out for the best. He cleared the record when he heard a sound behind him.

Merlin stepped back into the living room shyly. The captain had been intending to tease the ensign about his new image for a minute or two. He couldn't. All he could do was swallow softly as he admired his handiwork.

His eyes narrowed as he considered one of the computer-provided accoutrements. The vest wasn't an option the captain had even considered. It felt like more than coincidence. He reached into a drawer and pulled out something the ensign had never seen before. Something completely incomprehensible to him.

"We'll try this," the captain murmured as he walked towards Merlin.

The young man surprised him by retreating. "A chain? What's the disk at the end for?" Merlin asked, looking concerned as he studied the odd device.

"It's called a pocket watch. It goes with the vest. The chain attaches to one side, and the watch is kept in a small pocket on the other. This one's very old. It's made from a primitive alloy called 'sterling silver.' It belonged to my father. Try not to destroy it," he said with a wink. Then he stepped back and admired his handiwork.

"Damn, I'm good!" he said with a grin.

"Time to visit New Orleans, ensign," he said. He paused a moment to reconsider.

"Computer. One hat. Male, circa 1930's, Chicago fashion.

He smiled at the delighted look on the ensign's face as the hat with the wide brim materialized. The watch had been incomprehensible. The hat he understood! It went with the vest perfectly. It looked like he should be playing jazz instead of steering a Starship. The only thing he needed was a trumpet.

The captain smiled as he changed one last thing. "Saddle shoes. Black with white toe and heel."

Merlin blushed as the captain knelt in front of him to tie the archaic laces. He breathed a sigh of relief when the captain remained focused on the shoes. That never happened in Merthur-One!

"That oughta do it!" the captain said as he finished tying them. He stepped back and looked at the ensign. The young man looked like the coolest Romulan ever! He smiled and continued.

"Our reservation's for 8 pm and this is a restaurant with only one seating. We don't want to be late or we'll end up eating in the kitchen. I've done it before. It's fun, but not really the best environment for a dinner date,'" the captain said.

"THIS IS A DATE?" Merlin asked anxiously as his eyes widened. All his hard-won "cool" evapourated instantly.

"Relax! It's an expression. I meant, um, a 'shared social function between two interested parties,' the captain clarified.

"Thanks. That's better. I just didn't... I mean I haven't... Ensign Gwen promised to teach me how human dating rituals..." Merlin sputtered.

"Ensign, have you ever been on a date?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, we'll just call this a 'non-date,' OK?"

"OK!" the young man said with relief. They walked out of the captain's quarters together and headed for the transporter room.

The captain knew his 'dress the ensign' game was successful when he saw the transporter room officer's reaction to Merlin's appearance. There was no innocence in her eyes as she imagined away the clothes he had spent so much care selecting.

The captain started to growl possessively before remembering something very important. Something he had felt during one of his brushes with the ensign. Something horrifying.

Merlin didn't want to play the field.

The captain was very glad it was a 'non-date' after all. One date might lead to more, and in his opinion that was a complication a Starship captain didn't need.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 12**

"I haven't seen nearly enough of this planet," Merlin said as they beamed into a secluded section of New Orleans' French Quarter. The buildings had been preserved perfectly through the centuries. The original ironwork balconies were full of hanging plants, making walls of green along the streets. The sound of jazz filled the air. The captain could hear at least three different bands playing. Merlin's sensitive hearing could pick out five. People wandered the streets holding hands, enjoying the warm night.

"Sisko's is just around the corner," Arthur said. They paused at a string of curses. One of the bands in the square was trying to sober up their trombone player. It didn't look like they were going to succeed. They wouldn't be a sixth band for Merlin's listening pleasure. They walked up to the classic building and didn't even need to open the door. An elderly gentleman appeared in the doorway, silhouetted by soft candlelight from the restaurant behind him.

"Don't you even think of coming in here! I've got a table reserved on the patio. The only thing better than Louisiana catfish is Louisiana catfish under the stars! Oh, don't worry my Vulcan friend, I've got some wonderful vegetarian specials tonight."

"Thanks, Mr. Sisko. Just to let you know, I'm Romulan. And human, too."

"I picked up on the human part, but Romulan? I feel honoured! I've never had a Romulan guest. I've had lots of Klingons. They like their crawfish raw and mine are the freshest. They like food that bites back! I also carry a selection of Blood Wine they're fond of.

You're Romulan, though. Whatever shall I do you make you feel comfortable? If only there were something. Or if only you were with someone else," he said as he blinked innocently.

"Just bring him a glass of Romulan Ale," the captain said. "This Starfleet officer learned to look the other way years ago. Trade boycotts are popular, but they don't work. There's supply there, there's demand here and there's money to be made. You don't have to be a Ferengi to see that trade is going to take place. It's not like it's weapons they're smuggling. It's fancy beer. Fancy blue beer. Plus, there were a number of admirals with blue teeth for days after Terradin's bachelor party."

"I didn't expect you'd have a problem with it. You seem to be growing more flexible in your advancing years, Arthur. Or perhaps it's just the company you're keeping now," he said with a knowing wink.

He gestured for Arthur to join him as he walked back to the kitchen. The sound of pots and pans drowned out their conversation.

"I can remember you stealing cookies from my kitchen when you were nine, but I never thought you'd be robbing the cradle!" Mr. Sisko chuckled, apparently delighted. Arthur and his son Ben had been friends since they met at Space Camp when they were eight years old. The captain had spent a lot of time in his kitchens over the years.

"He's twenty! It's not like it's illegal or anything!" the captain replied defensively.

"And in terms of a human lifespan that makes him about seven years old. A very mature seven, but be careful anyway. He looks like someone who could get hurt easily. And he looks like someone you don't want to hurt ever," the older man replied with a grin.

"Just serve the food, old man," the captain grumbled, much to the amusement of the old man.

The captain sighed as he walked back into the dining room. Merlin was stunning in his new outfit and everyone was noticing the blond-haired young man with the swept-back ears. Two young women were watching both of them and they were likely thinking the same thing Mr. Sisko was. Robbing the cradle, indeed. Maybe it was time to give in and start using the dermal regenerator on the fine lines beside his eyes.

He returned to his seat, hoping the waiter would appear with their food soon. He was sure the evil restaurant owner would delay it by half an hour. He needed time to watch the results of his mischief.

Merlin sensed the change in the captain's mood. He reached out a hand and extended a finger, touching the back of the captain's hand lightly. His eyes immediately sparkled with amusement. He sent a telepathic message at the same time he spoke.

_youarenottooold!_

"You'll be commanding a Starship for decades if you choose to, assuming you'll live to be a hundred. I'll be eighty or so by then. Not too much of a difference in the long run, is it?" Then his eyes widened.

"I mean... Not that you'd want to. With me. That isn't what I... Damn!"

It was the captain's turn to be amused. Perhaps the ensign was learning a valuable lesson. That silence was preferable to filling awkward pauses with embarrassing comments!

Mr. Sisko was being kind. Their food arrived a few moments later. The waiter placed Merlin's meal in front of him. The ensign picked up a piece of the okra and studied it before tasting it carefully. His eyes lit up.

"It's delicious! And it's real! It's all real!" he said.

"How can you tell? They're the same, right down to the molecular level," the captain mused as Mr. Sisko glowered at him.

"Replicated food isn't like this. This is made with great care by a master chef, and it DOES taste different. I don't know why. Maybe just because it's made with love," he said as he glanced up at the owner. Mr. Sisko smiled and nodded at the ensign.

"Suck-up," Arthur muttered. He had a feeling Merlin would never have to worry about his food being delayed. Ever.

"If you'll excuse me for a few minutes..." the captain said.

* * *

Arthur's trip to the facilities was free of surprises. His return from them wasn't.

"What the hell happened?" the captain asked as he returned to an empty restaurant and a frantically waving Mr. Sisko.

"Your boyfriend happened!" Mr. Sisko whispered back as he pointed across the square. "Now be quiet and listen!"

"He's not my boyfriend! He's... Never mind. What's he up to now?" the captain asked with a sigh of resignation.

He looked where the older man was pointing. His jaw dropped. He had dressed the ensign to look like he should be playing jazz. He hadn't expected him to actually do it!

The soft, otherworldly strains of a Vulcan lyre filled the flower-scented air. It jumped up and down octaves, accompanying different instruments within its vast range. One second it called out the melody along with a trumpet, the next it thumped a harmony with the bass line. Arthur couldn't hear any other bands playing. Anyone with any musical sense had stopped what they were doing to listen. Most knew Vulcans who played the lyre. None of the Vulcans had ever played jazz, and Merlin's take on it was a fascinating interpretation.

"They asked if anyone would like to fill in for their tipsy trombone player. He borrowed the lyre from the musician over there. Captain, you'd better go get him after this number. There's an entertainment agent dining here tonight, and she looks interested. Really interested. You might lose your helmsman to a career as a musician if you don't watch it."

"Great. Just great."

"Oh, by the way, he's welcome to eat here any time he'd like. I'll keep a bottle of Romulan ale chilled for him. All he has to do is give me a day's notice and I'll arrange a performance. Jackson Square will hum the next time he visits!" Mr. Sisko said excitedly. He watched as a look of confusion appeared on the captain's face when the band started a new piece.

"Wait! I know that tune. It's so familiar, but I can't quite... NO! He didn't!" the captain gasped.

Mr. Sisko started to laugh. "I recognize it! I believe it's 'Hail Pendragon' isn't it? The anthem the Saridins play on Pendragon Day?"

A green "cockroach" the size of a large dog stopped to listen. It looked around frantically with its compound eyes, its antennae whipping through the air. It spotted the captain, squealed and hopped away. A tour group of its seventy-nine friends charged into the square a few seconds later. They always travelled in groups of eighty and much to the delight of the New Orleans travel industry they adored jazz! They looked around eagerly and saw the unfortunate captain before he managed to hide.

"Well, I never thought I'd welcome a bunch of cockroaches onto my patio," the restauranteur murmured as the Saridins scuttled towards them.

"SON OF A... Hello there! How are you?" the captain said to the young green Saradin who scuttled up to his leg and hugged it. Her antennae were twitching with excitement. A flurry of clicks followed, translated into Standard a fraction of a second later by her Universal Translator.

**"**_**Greetings HighQueen! Mother says you NestSaviour. Save WorldNest while I still egg,"**_

the Saridin teenager said.

"They prefer to be called 'bugs' and they never learned to skip the whole 'HighQueen' thing. They're convinced that I defeated the Borg Queen's plan and I'm 'worthy' of the title," he explained to Mr. Sisko, his teeth grinding before he smiled and replied to the excited bug.

"I had a lot of help from a lot of good people. A Starship full of them. Um, LightNest helpers enable me to save WorldNest. They worthy, too."

**"**_**One day I fly LightNest. I practice helm every day on holosimulator. 4.3 worthy now!"**_

"4.3! You only need 4.0 for helm. See NestMate with different ears making music? He only 4.1 worth. But still not so good. Crash LightNest first DutyTime. Holosimulation seem real, but harder in life," he said with a smile. "But NestMate learns quickly. Much better now."

**"**_**Not NestMate. Mate," **_

she said as she corrected his grammar.

"What? I don't... NO! Not mate! NestMate only," Arthur assured her. She corrected the sexually confused human again.

**"**_**Mate."**_

"No, really! We're just..."

**"**_**Mate."**_

She touched antennae with another Saridin. He leapt across the square in one big hop. His antennae flicked around Merlin's leg. The ensign smiled at him and gave the bug a pat on the back. The captain didn't notice as Merlin stood and followed after it. The captain was too focused on the group of bugs studying him.

The Saridin hopped back and touched antennae with his NestMates. There was a brief chittering before he and his seventy-nine friends turned to the captain in unison and stated unequivocally,

**"**_**Mate."**_

"Only PerhapsMate!" the captain said firmly. "PerhapsMate!"

He rolled his eyes as the bugs started spinning their antennae in delight, "laughing" at him. He realized that in their family structure the concept of PerhapsMate translated to "a bit pregnant."

"Future OnceMate maybe. Not Mate. OnceMate only."

He heard a huff and turned to find an irritated Romulan glaring at him.

"OnceMate. I don't have to be a Saridin to understand what that means, captain. I thought I was something more, but I guess I'm just another once of your conquests after all," Merlin muttered as he walked back into the restaurant, fuming.

Now that Merlin had stopped playing the lyre many of the other patrons had returned to their now-cold meals. They stepped out of his way quickly as they saw him coming. The cute blond man they had been watching earlier wasn't the emotionally relaxed Vulcan they had thought. He was a Romulan and a very angry one. An angry Romulan was no longer cute. An angry Romulan was scary! The Federation guarded the Neutral Zone for good reasons, the cold glare of their unfriendly Romulan neighbours not the least of them.

"Ensign! That's not what I meant!" he called after the retreating Romulan stomping through the restaurant. Retreating Romulan. Almost a contradiction in terms. He had no idea why he was surprised. Merlin was a contradiction in everything.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," he said to the Saridins.

_**"Understood, HighQueen. Mate angry. Must resolve or life hell. Same everywhere. **_

_**Good Luck and farewell!"**_

they said as they skittered away to tell the other tour group about their meeting with the HighQueen.

The captain grimaced. Hell, indeed! He ran after the annoyed ensign and reached him just as he was sitting down at the table. Mr. Sisko replaced their cold meals with hot ones as he had everyone else's. His customers always left happy, regardless of the cost.

Merlin started pushing the okra around his plate with a fork. He obviously wasn't hungry after hearing the captain's OnceMate comment.

"Ensign, I didn't mean it that way. They were just confused. Saridin family structure is very different. Nothing else would translate well."

"I don't care. I know what it means to me, and it's not exactly out of character for you, is it?" he said as his eyes flashed with anger.

Arthur growled. "That's not fair! You can't..."

"Both of you stop bickering in the middle of my restaurant. You're like an old married couple!" Mr. Sisko said as he finally intervened. The captain's growl had distracted everyone from their meals.

"My apologies. I'm just tired. Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Sisko," Merlin said politely as he tapped his communicator.

One of the young women who had been watching the two attractive blond men earlier in the evening shared her prediction with her friend.

"Watch this," one of them whispered to the other. "Just find the two hottest guys in any social situation and cross them off your list. They'll be going home with each other."

The captain overheard and blushed. "We will not be going home with each..."

"Energize!" Merlin said crossly.

The woman laughed triumphantly as she saw the air start to sparkle around both of them. "That sure isn't public transit! Like I said, you're going home with each other, boys!"

"DAMN! I really have to teach you about timing, ensign. Starfleet's reputation is taking a beating because of us. Stupid honesty thing," the captain muttered as they disappeared in a shower of light.

They reappeared moments later in the transporter room. The captain grabbed Merlin's shoulder before he could leave.

"At least let me walk you back to your cabin, ensign."

Merlin glared at him. "You'll be seen with me and I doubt you want people to talk. Particularly when all I am is a one night stand." The captain heard the hurt tone in his voice.

"You're not a one night stand, ensign. At the very least I've come to think of you a friend. A friend who seems to want to kill me, but a friend nevertheless," the captain said with a comforting smile.

Merlin paused to consider their new friendship. "Friend. That's enough. For now, PerhapsMate," the young Romulan said with a wink as his smile restored itself magically.

"For now."


	13. Chapter 13

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 13**

Both the captain and the ensign beamed into the courtroom within seconds of each other. Their smile was forced. Both had been thinking about "PerhapsMate" and neither could get to sleep after they started. Thankfully the inquiry would be over soon. Unfortunately the captain's cough had returned with a vengeance. The Tri-Ox had worn off several hours before and his lungs were still fighting the inflammation caused by the dust from the ensign's 'wonderful' sandstorm.

One of the admirals heard his cough and walked over. He didn't need to scan the captain to figure out what was wrong. The Tri-Ox helped his breathing but hadn't done anything for the underlying problem.

"Hmm. That's odd. Usually Tri-Ox deals with the respiratory issues completely. It doesn't seem to be effective in this case," Dr. McCoy muttered when he saw the captain's laboured breathing. "Respirex should eliminate any remaining difficulties. I don't think it'll be necessary to delay the inquiry," he said after a glance at his tricorder. He pulled out a hypo from his medkit and fiddled with the settings before placing it against the captain's neck. The captain heard a hiss as the powerful medication entered his system. His breathing improved almost instantly.

The doctor looked curious. "I'm surprised the Yamato's doctor didn't... Wait. You didn't go to Sickbay, did you captain? Of course you didn't. Captains never go to Sickbay by choice," he grumbled. "I should have had you beamed there directly and restrained if necessary."

The captain was rescued from what was sure to be an extensive lecture by the doctor. The inquiry was starting again.

"Captain, if you'll join us now," Admiral Terradin said as he gestured to the witness stand. They were running too far behind to mention the missing yellow mark of shame. He'd tease his friend later.

The interview started with some basic questions. Name, rank and serial number. Then the admirals continued with the more important questions. They already knew the answers, but it was necessary to hear the testimony in the captain's own words.

As the admirals went through what they thought was a token interview, they became more and more concerned. The captain's answers to their most basic questions were unsatisfactory, to say the least. The captain's testimony contradicted the ensign's in several critical ways. In this case, the admirals were well aware the ensign's answers were correct.

The Captain was clearly being evasive. Now he was contradicting his own testimony with every answer. Their questions became more detailed.

Finally, under their intense scrutiny, the captain admitted to being a Romulan deep-cover agent. Ten admirals drew their phasers in one smooth motion and called for Security. Once the fully-armed officers arrived and pointed their own phasers at the captain, the horrified admirals holstered their weapons and continued asking questions.

The doctor became suspicious as he heard the captain's answers. The other admirals deferred to him as he asked several questions of his own. He wasn't the highest ranking among them but they did it out of courtesy for the older gentleman. He was brilliant and full of life, but he was over 140 years old. He sometimes napped at inopportune times. After hearing the captain's answers to his questions, they were glad they deferred to him. It saved everyone a lot of time and angst.

Under the doctor's questioning, Captain Pendragon admitted to being a Dabo Girl as well as a Romulan agent. He then started to give them a extremely erotic dance to prove it.

One of the admirals fanned herself unobtrusively after his little show ended. The captain's dance had been impressive. She decided he had missed his calling when he joined Starfleet. He would have made a talented stripper!

The doctor asked a simple question. The captain failed the unsophisticated, yet extremely convincing, "How many fingers am I holding up" test. "Eleven" was not the answer the doctor was looking for.

After a more detailed scan, McCoy sighed. "It helped you breath easier, but... You're sensitive to Respirex, aren't you, Captain."

"I dunno," the Captain replied unhelpfully as Merlin helped him put his pants back on.

"How about Raktajino? Or strawberries?"

"He's allergic to strawberries," Merlin offered. He'd seen the captain's basic medical information displayed over the diagnostic bed in Sickbay. He'd seen it a lot over the past weeks while he waited for the captain to regain consciousness. The monitor listed known allergies. Strawberries had been one of them.

The doctor nodded. His suspicion had been confirmed. "What's your name?" he asked the captain.

"Leonard McCoy," the captain replied.

"No, that's MY name. What's YOUR name."

"Taron Salshir," the Captain replied confidently this time.

"No, you're not the Romulan Emperor, either," McCoy sighed. The Respirex was incapacitating the captain at an alarming rate. It would resolve without intervention in a few hours, but until then he needed to be monitored in case a more severe reaction developed.

The other admirals sighed along with the doctor. Their sigh was partly caused by frustration at the further delay, but mostly by relief. A deep-cover Romulan agent in command of one of the Federations's most advanced Starships? It was a nightmare. Thankfully a nightmare that had ended with the observant doctor's questions.

Dr. McCoy just shook his head and ordered the Captain back to the Excalibur to recover. This time he specified Sickbay as the destination.

The delusional Starship commander couldn't understand much in his impaired mental state, but he understood a few things well enough.

He was going back to Sickbay, he didn't want to, and the ensign was somehow responsible. They had to beam him there struggling and cursing.

Some of the curses involved sandstorms, admirals and Sickbay in general.

Most of the curses involved the ensign.

* * *

A/N: Here's a gift of humour for everyone on Dec. 25. I'll be posting another chapter within the next day or two. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story so far. If you'd like to give a gift in return, I do love reviews! ;P


	14. Chapter 14

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 14**

The captain's enforced "visit" to Sickbay did not go well. As the doctor had predicted they had to restrain him. Actually, drug and restrain him. The four Security guards made the mistake of thinking a crazy Captain Pendragon was less dangerous than a sane one. They were still in Sickbay, two recovering from broken bones, one from a broken nose and the last from a concussion. Dr. Gaius used the distraction provided by their pummelling to raise the containment field around the biobed. Then he gassed all five of them. Much to the recovering captain's continuing unhappiness it had been Anesthizine again.

Most of the Respirex had cleared his system after a few hours, but the Anesthizine left him with a wicked headache. Unfortunately, one that couldn't be treated. The last thing the doctor wanted was another chemical running around in his system while he recovered from the remaining Respirex.

After his little adventure in Sickbay the captain had gone directly to his ready room. He used the opportunity to review the new orders just received from Starfleet Command. His eyes narrowed as he considered the complications. Then they widened as a big grin spread across his face. There was only one practical solution, and it was fun! He tapped his communicator and called his First Officer to the ready room. It only took her a few seconds before she walked through the door. She was already on the bridge. It was less than ten steps to his ready room.

"Commander, new orders. Take the Excalibur out to the Neutral Zone. I'll join you in a few days. I'll take the Captain's Yacht," the captain said to his First Officer.

Morgana smiled. The Captain loved the Albion, although he'd never admit it to anyone. It was quite the perk! The new yachts were capable of high warp. It wouldn't take long for him to return to Excalibur.

"I'll beam to the courtroom shortly," he informed her. Recall all crew members, Priority Beta. Prepare for departure and break orbit in half an hour. Things are heating up along the Neutral Zone. The faster you get there, the better."

"Understood, sir," his first officer replied as she relaxed visibly.

Priority Beta instead of Priority Alpha. The crew would have a minute to prepare before they were transported back to the Excalibur. They wouldn't be snatched from their dinner conversations, cutlery still in hand. Or worse, their beds doing things most would agree were best done in private. Priority Alpha was usually used for Borg attacks. Privacy wouldn't exist to be violated if THEY won.

Thankfully, new transporter technology allowed the operator to beam some clothes onto the hapless officer before they materialized completely. All the fleet's Starships had their computers upgraded significantly after a certain ensign discovered their weakness during a simulation. The additional computing power had enabled the new transporter functions. Merlin would be popular if Priority Alpha was ever used.

I understand Ensign Emrys will be joining you?" the commander asked. By the way the captain's face fell it was clear he hadn't read all the fine points of the new orders. The headache clearly wasn't helping him concentrate.

"Yes," the captain hissed as he reread the orders and learned of the nightmare that was about to befall him.

"And this upsets you why?" the commander asked.

"What do you mean? Isn't it obvious by now? He's trying to kill me! He's bad. As in 'not good.' Perhaps even evil," the Captain said to his first officer.

"Evil!" he repeated to underline his suspicion as he rubbed his throbbing temples.

"I doubt he's that, captain," the commander assured him. I'm sure your trip will be pleasant enough, and if he gets too chatty you can lock him in the guest cabin. Oh, and just don't get captured by Romulans again! Contact with the Romulans for the second time in two weeks would be very difficult to explain to Starfleet Intelligence."

The captain nodded in agreement. THAT was a headache he certainly didn't need!

"Carry out your orders, commander. Admiral Janeway has transferred her flag to the U.S.S. Intrepid. She's taken command of the Seventh Fleet and will join Excalibur within the week. The situation's quite volatile. The admiral's hoping the fleet will discourage anything the Romulans might be considering."

"Aye, sir," the commander replied. She had a feeling the captain would be taxing the engines on his yacht to return to Excalibur as quickly as possible. He had pretty big incentives. He wanted to be at the heart of the action. Plus, it was a big ship. He'd be able to escape the ensign there, too.

After Commander Morgana left his ready room the captain studied the orders in detail. He hadn't been surprised by one of them. The Admiralty had scheduled a third interview with him.

He had been "invited" to a follow-up meeting. This time it would be brief. The admirals were tired of spending time asking him questions they already knew the answers to. As the fine points of their orders stated, they insisted the young ensign stay on Earth until the inquiry finished in case they had any further questions for him.

The captain looked frantically for a loophole. There wasn't one. For the next few days he was going to be sharing his yacht with the most annoying person he had ever met.

* * *

The inquiry had been brief, and Captain Pendragon did indeed want to return to Excalibur quickly. The Albion would be taking the most direct route possible. Some of their course would cross through risky territory, but additional time spent with the ensign was also risky. Probably riskier. As the captain finished his pre-flight checklist, the annoyance beamed aboard his yacht.

"Hi captain! You're looking better," Merlin said. "I still have the sniffles. It's that fog in San Francisco again. I'm looking forward to a week in a climate-controlled ship."

The captain sighed. Wonderful. On top of everything else, he'd be spending the week in a dry sauna. Vulcans were cold on most Starships. Romulans, too. Custom as well as courtesy dictated a compromise between the two officers on the small vessel. The temperature would hover around 40 degrees C, and it would be so dry he'd be drinking several glasses of water every hour just to stay hydrated.

"I was feeling better, too," the captain grumbled. "Then you appeared as if by magic to torture me further with your delightful compromise."

"We can keep it at Standard if you'd like. I enjoy the lighter gravity." The captain knew both Vulcan and Romulus had higher gravities. The lower Earth-normal gravity was relaxing for the ensign. He'd be perpetually chilled, though, and the higher Standard humidity wouldn't help his sniffles any.

"We'll keep the gravity Standard, and we'll split the difference on the humidity and temperature," the captain conceded.

"Deal!" the ensign replied.

The captain narrowed his eyes. Warmer, drier and lighter than normal. He was suddenly suspicious that the outcome was exactly what the irritating young man had wanted from the start. He was beginning to feel outclassed in their "battle of wits." A quick thought drew his attention to the Romulan half of his colleague. Perhaps "sneaky" ran in their blood, after all. He chided himself over his own prejudice before issuing his next instructions.

"Go take the co-pilot seat. That should be far enough away from me for safety. My safety. Just to let you know, I'm armed."

"Very funny, sir." Then he saw the phaser at the captain's side.

"Oh. I see. I'll stay over here then," Merlin said as he smiled. "Y'know, friends don't threaten other friends with phasers, and I'm pretty sure PerhapsMates don't either!"

The captain had promised himself he'd break the news gently, but the ensign's comment shredded his already frayed patience.

"Friends? PERHAPSMATES? I've had some time to think since last night and I've figured out some things. Friends don't set off an antimatter explosion within their friend's starship, gas him, shoot him with a phaser, break his collarbone and wrist, knock out four of his teeth, give him a 'mortal' wound, make him wear the 'yellow paint of shame,' drag him into an environmental emergency he's still recovering from, watch him strip in front of the Admiralty as a result of the treatment of same, and in the process of it all PUT HIM IN SICKBAY THREE TIMES IN TWO WEEKS!" the captain yelled. "With friends like you, I don't need enemies. You do their job for them and you do it damn well!"

"We're going to forget last night ever happened and just work together. Face it 'PerhapsMate," You're young, I'm not, and I can't bear to wait until you realize it. Find someone else and forget about me. I'll be trying very hard to forget about you, trust me," the captain assured him. "I'm sorry, but our relationship ended last night, ensign. Permanently."

Merlin looked devastated as he turned away. This time his sniffles weren't just caused by his reaction to the San Francisco dampness.

The captain sighed. The ensign would be hurt for a while. At least until he figured it out and Arthur had no doubt he would quickly.

Through some sort of epic joke the universe decided to play on him the ensign had become a friend. Not even Morgana or Gaius were that, and for good reason. A friend serving under him was a complication a Starship captain didn't need and a "PerhapsMate" was a decadence he just couldn't afford. The list of the ensign's 'sins' against him provided a good excuse for ending their relationship.

Hopefully Merlin's hurt feelings would distract the young man enough to scramble his telepathic abilities for the next few days. The captain had a feeling he was continuing to broadcast his affection for the ensign. If Merlin picked up his thoughts it would take him much longer to understand that their relationship had ended.

Permanently.

* * *

**A/N:** Sooooo? Do Merlin and Arthur get together in the next chapters? Does their relationship end permanently? Should I continue teasing you mercilessly? TIME FOR A VOTE!

I already know where the story's going, but you can help me decide how we get there. Just leave a comment in a review or send me a message if you're shy. :)

Cheers!

JulieGee


	15. Chapter 15

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 15**

"Dammit!" the captain cursed for the eighth time in the past hour. He seldom swore, although the ensign was rapidly changing that. This time his swearing was caused by a combination of the stress generated by his yacht's systemwide failures and his rapidly decreasing patience with the young man staring at him from across the cabin.

"Ensign, I have no idea how you managed to pass the Academy entrance exam, let alone the final! Are you useful in the slightest, or did you just sleep with all your professors?" the captain muttered as he adjusted a setting on his microcaliper.

The ensign had refused to help with the decontamination procedure. Ordering him hadn't helped, either. The captain stuck his head back inside the engine without waiting for the response.

"I... I never slept with... I mean, I... Don't. Don't make me think about that. I just... I need to get to the Excalibur now! Send... Send a distress signal. Please," Merlin asked with a note of panic in his voice.

"I can't. Subspace communications are still offline, and we're not exactly in distress, are we?" the captain pointed out.

The men were ensconced in the Albion, one of the most luxurious ships in existence. The Excalibur's Captain's Yacht was a luxury many planetary leaders would line up to experience. It wasn't the artwork, or the decor, or the quality of the food that impressed most. The ship had cutting-edge Federation technology and life support for ten people, all dedicated to one purpose. Doing whatever the captain needed them to.

At the touch of a button the opulent dining room walls shifted to tactical and strategic displays, turning it into a "war room" capable of coordinating a fleet of ships. At another touch, it could become a state-of-the-art broadcast centre able to deliver news to a planet's population on any frequencies required. A third touch and the panels reconfigured to a research centre. A team of political scientists and sociologists could use the facilities as a base from which to study a new culture. Doctors could use it as a diagnostic and treatment facility. Scientists could coordinate sensor information received from other vessels. Diplomats could use it as a portable embassy. Judges as a courtroom. Engineers as a design lab.

In the end, what impressed wasn't the vehicle. It was what it represented. The extension of the captain's power, capability and even his desire beyond his Starship and onto a planet's surface. The United Federation of Planets wrapped up in a box, sitting on your front lawn. Either very welcome, or VERY NOT! Treaties recognized it as sovereign territory wherever it landed. An attack on the Yacht was tantamount to an act of war.

It had happened once before. The planetary government on Elidon VII fell to a coup while the yacht was present. The new Patriarch made the mistake of trying to eliminate the Federation's influence by attacking it. He made the bigger mistake of failing to destroy it.

There wasn't much left of the Patriarch's ground forces once the yacht finished attacking them from orbit. It had ridiculously large stores of antimatter for a ship its size and remarkably powerful phasers. It could have fired on planetary targets from orbit for months and barely taxed its energy reserves. The yacht was a resource seldom used, but a very valuable one.

The two men had the Albion to themselves as a result of the inquiry. The Excalibur's course was taking her too far from Earth for impulse travel. It was out of range of their warp shuttles, as well. The yacht's defensive capabilities vastly exceeded those of the much smaller shuttles. The Captain had decided it was the best compromise given the situation.

The Albion still had more than enough power. It just couldn't go anywhere or talk to anything. The captain had diagnosed the problem yesterday. The ship was contaminated by verteron radiation from a disabled probe the yacht had come across several days before. Generating a subspace field through the contamination was like trying to start a fire under water. The matches were fine. The kindling was fine. The environment was the problem.

The captain was rapidly reaching the conclusion that they wouldn't be going anywhere soon, and that it wasn't much of a problem. Thanks to the replicator their antimatter reserves could provide life support and other necessities for years. Necessities like apples and hot dogs and fuzzy slippers if so desired. The Excalibur would go looking for the yacht in a few days if they hadn't reported by then. There was no real hurry, other than the Captain's desire to return to his ship and escape the ensign.

The young man shuddered again. It caught the captain's attention this time. He hadn't noticed the slowly deteriorating condition of his officer. He had been too focused on trying to decontaminate the warp core.

"Ensign, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," Merlin managed to gasp.

The captain started scanning him with a tricorder before he rolled his eyes. The ensign's questionable competence must be rubbing off on him. He sat the engineering tricorder down and reached for the tricorder in the medkit.

He pointed the hand-held medical scanner at the young man, now shaking in his chair. Ensign Emrys hadn't let the captain anywhere near him for the past several days. He had been staying on the opposite side of the cabin, moving to keep as much space between them as possible. The captain had expected him to take the news of their ended relationship hard, but this was extreme. Thankfully, the scan could take place from across the cabin. The tricorder was sensitive.

A soft chiming from the tricorder was interrupted by a series of high-pitched whines and then a warbling sound. The captain's eyebrows shot up. It wasn't a good sound! When Starfleet officers heard that sound they called their ship and prepared for an emergency medical transport.

The Captain looked at the tricorder's display. Many of the biosign indicators were still green, but far too many were yellow, and several were red. Another of the yellow ones turned red as he watched. The tricorder should have displayed a rudimentary diagnosis but the ensign's unique biochemistry was too much for it to analyze. It established a link with the Albion's main computer. A few seconds later, the sound got much worse. The Captain ran his hands across the control panel and turned to face the main display. A medical summary appeared on the viewscreen. The computer was guessing, but it seemed fairly confident of it's findings. The captain's eyes widened as he read the details on the main display.

"Ensign! How... You're Romulan, not Vulcan! You shouldn't be...."

Captain Pendragon glanced at the tricorder again and turned back to look at the ensign.

Merlin was breathing through his teeth, skin flushed a light shade of green. Sweat was pouring down his trembling body. His eyes... His eyes were flame.

"Ensign, are you in..."

"DON'T! Don't ask! I can't bear to hear it!"

"I need to know this, ensign! Your life depends on it. Is it Pon Farr? 'Mating Fever?'"

Merlin growled at the nearly intolerable invasion of privacy. Vulcans didn't discuss the topic of mating willingly. There was a good reason. Every seven years of their life, Pon Farr reduced Vulcans from eminently logical beings to little more than ravenously sexual animals. Their drive to mate was primal, and it took precedence over all else. Pon Farr translated to "Mate or Die." In that state, a Vulcan would murder a challenger and feel no remorse until the fever had broken. The ensign struggled to regain control of his temper before continuing.

"Yes, it is. It shouldn't be, but it is. Romulans don't usually, um... I did spend over a third of my life on Vulcan, though. But something's wrong with what I'm feeling. Pon Farr doesn't effect Vulcans this quickly. There's usually more of a warning. At least several days. It must be my mixed heritage. I don't have days. Nowhere near days," he whispered. After a brief pause he glanced at the captain and blushed.

"The Saridins. The whole 'mate vs. nestmate' thing. One of them touched me with his antennae. I think they must have sensed my pheromones starting to shift. Starting to sync with..."

He coughed and blushed even further before looking at the deck, sweat dripping from his face. "It's far too early for this. Commander Gaius wasn't concerned. He said it would probably be years, and if worse came to worse there are over thirty Vulcans serving on the Excalibur, including several unbonded ones. They could help. It's pretty logical, considering failure to mate usually leads to death."

The captain shook his head. What Vulcans were willing to do wasn't the important thing right now.

"Ensign, this isn't the Excalibur. There aren't any Vulcans on the Albion," the captain said softly.

The shuddering ensign's eyes raked up and down the captain's body. The tricorder wailed its disapproval. Most of the yellow biosign indicators on the screen turned red as his breathing and heart rate increased further.

"No, there aren't any Vulcans on the Albion," Merlin panted, eyes radiating raw sexuality.

"There's you," he whispered. "Just you."

The captain's eyes widened as the ensign stood and started prowling across the deck towards him.

* * *

**A/N: **Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of horny!merlin. ;P

Just to give you some background, "Amok Time" is one of the most popular episodes of the original Star Trek series. It deals with the whole horny!vulcan Pon Farr thing. It first aired in 1967 which means it has the additional benefit of being even older than I am!

(Thanks to cathedralcity and Mnemosyne77 for pointing out the Vulcan/Romulan thing. There isn't a lot of info on Romulan Pon Farr, but they've only been separated from Vulcans for a few thousand years. Biologically, they're almost identical, but emotionally Romulans are much more expressive. Anyway, Merlin's weird everywhere, so I've taken a very amusing liberty!) ;)

Cheers!

JulieGee


	16. Chapter 16

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 16**

Merlin shook his head before returning to his seat. His shuddering had only increased.

"Captain. I don't want this to happen, but Romulans don't have the training Vulcans do. I may lose control quickly. Give me the medkit."

"No. I'm..."

"GIVE IT TO ME!" He was no longer entirely rational. Respect for his superior officer had clearly gone out the airlock.

"No! I'm holding on to it," the captain stated firmly. "What do you need?"

The young man looked at him sadly. "There's not much time. You're human. You're weak. Don't laugh! You don't know what we're capable of in this condition. We can be brutal. I need a hypo loaded with 3 cc's of neurazine. Just in case."

"Neurazine! That's used to treat seizures. It calms the nervous system. At least one cc does. Injecting more would be..."

"Painless," Merlin whispered.

The captain paled as he realized what the young man planned to do if necessary.

"Ensign, I'm not going to let you do that. I know a female is preferred but not required, and if you remember what's happened between us, you know. You're not that 'objectionable' to me," he said with a soft smile.

"LISTEN TO ME! This isn't one of Captain Pendragon's legendary 'one night stands!' This isn't 'let's get drunk and have sex with the ambassador's daughter in zero-gee!' This is a BOND!"

It was the Captain's turn to blush, although his skin turned bright red, instead of green. The ambassador's daughter was the one black mark on his otherwise spotless record. They had both been adults, of course, but his lack of discretion had nearly set back relations with their planet fifty years. It had been over a decade but clearly the rumors continued to circulate.

Merlin didn't notice the blush. He was too focused on keeping the Captain as far from him as possible.

"You DON'T want to be bonded with me. I know what you think of me. I know how incompetent you think I am. If you recall, just a few days ago you wanted to end our relationship. PERMANENTLY!" Merlin said.

"I didn't want it to end. I needed it to end. I can't lose another person I care about. There's only so much pain a person can take, and there are people depending on me. There are planets depending on me. I can't risk... Ensign, are you all right?"

"No. No, I'm not. I'm about to lose control. If you won't give me the hypo, then at least use a phaser. Maximum stun setting. Use it as often as it takes."

"I can't do that, either. It could be days before the Excalibur returns. You'd never survive. Even Romulans aren't indestructible."

Arthur looked closely at the young man. He was shaking. A thin stream of green blood ran down the side of his mouth. He had bitten through his lip in his attempt to retain control. It clearly wasn't going to be enough. He kept looking frantically at the medkit.

The captain knew one thing. His fellow officer was right about the strength issue. He was a master of hand-to-hand combat, but it probably wouldn't help against a Romulan deep within the plak tow. The blood fever.

He was certain the ensign would do anything not to hurt him. Merlin would knock him unconscious and get his hands on the medkit, or the phaser, or step into the airlock and cycle it. None of those options were acceptable. There was only one thing that would save him. He walked over to the young man.

"Don't! Stay away! Please!" Merlin gasped in horror. The captain was so close. Within touching range. His hand trembled at his side as he tried to fight his instinct.

"No. If we wait any longer it'll be too late. One of us will end up dead, or you'll end up taking me by force. I think you'll agree this is the better option," the captain whispered as he glanced at the young man's slightly pointed ear. His very cute ear. He had noticed before, but he hadn't mentioned it to anyone. Vulcans were insufferable enough. If they found out their captain shared the all-too-human weakness for their pointed ears, they'd never let him live it down.

Merlin's ears were actually more attractive to him than a full Romulan's were. His human half gave them a slight swept-back appearance more than a point. The captain stroked his ear lightly with a finger. He gasped as a very clear thought shot through his mind. Merlin's unintentional telepathy wasn't subtle this time.

_**pretty man pretty man need need need take take take**_

The captain staggered backwards. He had no idea how the ensign was keeping control. The strength of his desire was nearly incapacitating. It was intoxicating. It kindled a need within him that started to grow as he watched Merlin's reaction to his touch.

His fellow officer shuddered with pleasure at the stroke. He looked up at him through thick, dark lashes. "Captain, I..."

"Arthur. You can call me Arthur now," the captain said as he knelt beside his officer, his own breathing and heart rate now accelerating. "And, with you're permission, Merlin?"

"Yes. Yes, Merlin. Please."

Arthur coughed uncomfortably. Well, he'd already invaded Merlin's privacy when he asked him about the mating fever earlier. Time for an admission of his own.

"Merlin, I've never been with a man before."

"NEVER? That's not what I heard!"

"Hey! Not all the rumours are true! There are some creatures in the universe that are safe from my sexuality. Hortas, Tribbles and Xindi Aquatics, for example. And males in general. Now I'm sure the sex is similar, but..."

He heard a sharp intake of breath. The ensign's eyes bordered on insanity. Merlin looked like he was about to lose control completely. His own breathing deepened as he sensed the young man's need. The erotic nature of their conversation clearly wasn't helping matters.

"Arthur, I need to... I mean I... I have to... I need to be 'dominant.' I WILL be dominant."

The captain's own control was slipping. He could feel his heart pounding. He could feel the blood pulsing in his neck. "I hadn't really thought about that. It doesn't matter. You need me. I want you. We're finished thinking."

Arthur leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. His fevered lips, tinged with the taste of copper and passion and sweat. Merlin sighed softly.

"That's wonderful. I hoped you'd kiss me someday. But not like this. Because of this," the ensign whispered as he shuddered again.

"I had hoped for it, too, Merlin. I wasn't expecting it to be like this either, but it doesn't change my feelings for you."

"I can do something that'll make it easier for you. I know you'll like it. Trust me, Arthur?" he asked as both men started to pant.

"I trust you, Merlin," the captain whispered, amazed that it was true. He had never trusted anyone more.

"Computer. Zero-gee," Merlin growled. His eyes flashed with passion as he finally lost control.


	17. Chapter 17

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 17**

Arthur gasped as Merlin's hand clamped onto the side of his face. It wasn't like any mind meld he'd seen in the past. It wasn't delicate or careful. It must be the mating fever. He heard Merlin's words change from sound to thought as the bonding started. Delight filled the captain as he finally heard Merlin's thoughts clearly.

"My mind to your mind...

_mythoughtstoyourthoughts_

_OurMindsAreMerging_

_Our minds are one._

They floated into the air, spinning slowly, free of the constraints of gravity.

The young Romulan reached behind his neck and pulled him closer until their foreheads touched. Merlin's eyes were only centimetres from his. They filled his vision. Those mysterious, deep blue eyes with the flecks of gold. He could see them burning with need. He could see his own eyes through them, burning back at him as their senses started to merge.

It took all the captain's strength to lean closer and kiss Merlin lightly on the lips. The fevered Romulan blinked in surprise. He had been completely focused on the mental side of the bonding. The captain sensed a brief flash of amusement through the flames of desire consuming them before the ensign continued hunting for ways to enter his mind.

Hours passed as Arthur floated in euphoria. Gradually he came back to himself and opened his eyes. Burning eyes stared back. The captain gasped as he saw the ensign's continued need.

"That... Us... It didn't work?" he said sadly.

"What didn't work?" Merlin asked, still panting heavily.

"You're still in Pon Farr? After all that?"

Merlin smiled as he flicked the hair out of his eyes. Drops of sweat floated away from the strands. "I hadn't realized the perception of time could be so flexible. I always know the correct time, but humans don't, do they? I suppose it really could feel like hours, but it's only been two minutes since I touched your face and started the bonding. Not hours. Minutes."

"But I could feel you searching for something. I could feel your satisfaction when you found it. The bonding... It was wonderful."

Merlin laughed. "Arthur, that wasn't bonding. That was the equivalent of 'hello.' THIS is bonding."

Merlin slid a thread into his mind. His passion pulsed along the bond, thickening it. Stiffening it.

The captain cried out in thought as his back arched.

_Oh God, Merlin! _

Waves of pleasure that made the previous ones seem like a tickle tore through them. A Romulan was used to emotions that strong. A human wasn't. Arthur felt his identity starting to slip away in the deluge.

"I can't hold on, Merlin," he whispered.

"Don't fight it. Relax. I won't lose you. I won't let you go. I WON'T LET YOU GO!" Merlin said, his softly spoken words of comfort turning into a shout as his blood flamed hotter.

The thread became an anchor deep in his mind.

"I can give you pain. I can give you pleasure," Merlin hissed.

Arthur cried out again as bliss swept through him.

"I choose to give you pleasure. Only pleasure. ONLY THIS!" he screamed. Arthur's cry echoed his, animal sounds torn from his throat by a torrent of ecstasy beyond his comprehension as the thread swelled further.

"Do you trust me?" Merlin asked.

_Do you? DO YOU TRUST ME?_

Merlin's thoughts carried both hope and fury. Hope that the captain might say yes. Fury that he might not.

_YES! I TRUST YOU, MERLIN! BEFORE, NOW, FOREVER!_

The bond between them stabilized, offering a small measure of comfort to the Romulan.

Arthur sensed Merlin's sanity returning. Their passion dropped to a bearable level again. He looked into the eyes staring back at him. There was still fire in them, but it was now mixed with tenderness and concern.

"Arthur, the mental bond's holding. Barely, but it's holding. I can wait for help from Excalibur. We don't need the physical part, after all. I'll stop now," he said softly.

"Don't. Please don't, Merlin. This is wonderful. Don't end it, please. I can sense you fighting it. You've pulled back to the point where you can control it, but the fever hasn't left you. Finish this. I need you to," the captain whispered.

"I can't stay inside your mind any longer. I'll lose control," Merlin said as he shuddered.

The thread started to withdraw from Arthur's mind. Arthur grabbed it and held on as Merlin struggled against eons of instinct.

_NO! Don't hold me here. You have to let me go now! NOW!_

Arthur pulled on the thread and saw the fire rekindle in the Romulan's eyes.

_You shouldn't have... The pressure to mate... I can't stop anymore. I can't..._

Merlin snarled as he tore off their nearly indestructible uniforms like they were paper.

Arthur cried out as the bond swelled, pulsing with energy as it probed further into his mind, hunting for something. He could feel their bodies pressing against each other, hard muscles gleaming with sweat. He could feel the evidence of their excitement. Merlin gripped his shoulders and looked into his eyes as he thrust forward without warning.

Arthur cried out in ecstasy now physical as well as mental. He clawed Merlin's back with scrabbling fingers as felt himself teetering on the edge of a cliff of emotion so deep he could fall forever.

_OH GOD, MERLIN! OH GOD! I don't... I can't... Too much! Too much!_

_Trust me, Arthur._

Arthur cried out at the second thrust, and then the third before he surrendered completely. He felt himself falling as he lost himself in the flames of the Romulan's passion. Strong arms caught his mind and held it in a vice as the probing started again, now timed with thrusts.

The bond throbbed with passion as it plunged deeper into his mind and slipped through the last of his defenses.

This time there was no screaming. No desperate clawing. Arthur went limp. His eyes rolled up as thrust after thrust rocked him to the core. He felt their bodies against each other, the sweat between them, their heat. The pleasure intensified, their shared physical and mental responses reinforcing each other.

Arthur opened his eyes and watched in disbelief as Merlin blinked. The movement seemed glacial, slowing further as the Romulan gained confidence in his ability to alter the captain's perception of time.

Arthur could feel their heartbeats slowing to a crawl as he approached the apex of pleasure.

_Merlin, I can't take any more. I can't..._

"Trust me, Arthur. Let me do this for you. Let me share in your joy. Let me share this."

The bond continued to pulse deep within Arthur. Merlin manipulated the captain's perception of time as if by magic. Each physical thrust brought Arthur an explosion of pleasure that lasted longer and longer as the young Romulan made the seconds turn into minutes for him.

Merlin's thrusts finally reached deep enough into his mind and body to find the sources of his pleasure. Light pressure triggered feelings of unimaginable intensity as the bond swelled further. He trembled as he realized what Merlin hesitated to do.

_Don't... Don't... Don't stop. _

Merlin looked deep into his eyes as he thrust once more, both physically and mentally. Arthur's own pulsing started in response. Pressure built until his body and mind begged for release. He screamed as he reached the height of pleasure and...

Time.

Stopped.

Arthur wept from the intensity of an ecstasy that would last for hours.

Merlin smiled softly as their breathing slowed, the physical part of the bonding now complete. He closed his eyes and gently rested his forehead against Arthur's, thinking about the new intimacy with the man who was both his captain and his friend.

Arthur's eyelids flickered open as he sensed Merlin's thoughts. He struggled to focus through the pleasure. Merlin felt a soft yet insistent tug on the bond between them, much like a child might tug on his mother's hand when he wanted attention. He heard Arthur's silent correction.

_Not Friend. Mate._

The captain managed a smile before his eyes rolled back, thoughts washed away by the torrent of pleasure that had barely begun.

Merlin started to cry as he stroked Arthur's golden hair. The young man, part Romulan, part Human, had lived for years in a small Vulcan desert community to avoid upsetting others by his mere presence. The terrifying world of StarFleet Academy followed immediately after, as he struggled to succeed where he was considered a child of the enemy by some and a novelty by most.

Through all that loneliness, he yearned for the one thing he was certain he'd never have. Someone to love and be loved by. Someone his own.

His mate.

Merlin cradled Arthur in his arms as they floated in zero-gee, inseparable.

* * *

A/N: Please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter. :)


	18. Chapter 18

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 18**

_Arthur? Arthur, please wake up!_

_Huh? What..._

The captain returned to consciousness a few seconds later. Merlin looked relieved as his mate opened his eyes.

"Wow! Merlin, I... WOW! I had no idea Pon Farr... " the Captain said as he stretched and winced. "You made me faint again, didn't you?" he asked. Merlin's blush answered the question. Arthur was far too distracted to take issue. His intimacy with the ensign had been like nothing he'd experienced before. Maybe nothing like any Human had experienced before. His mind and body were still flushed with pleasure. He also hurt all over. He felt pain in places he didn't even know he had places.

The two men were curled up against one another in the yacht's bedroom. Merlin's arm rested across his chest. He snuggled back into his mate's arms without thinking about it. The bed they were lying on was spacious. It was also soft, which suited the bruised and battered human fine. Zero-gee had made their bonding easier in many ways, but as a result of it there were impact marks all over the ceiling as well as the floor and walls. Most of the dents were Arthur-shaped. The ensign's strength had been magnified by the mating fever, and inertia doesn't disappear just because gravity does. Both of the men had been too distracted during the bonding to notice their flight around the ship and the subsequent rapid stops. Stops cushioned mostly by Arthur. Bruising stops.

Merlin's 'fever' had lasted nearly ten hours. Brutal, indeed. Brutal, but tender. Arthur was pretty sure it wasn't a combination a human could feel by themselves. He had shared the very Romulan emotion through the meld. It had been exotic and spectacular. And the pleasure. He couldn't even think about it without starting to pant again.

He looked over at the young man holding him. He ran his finger along the top of the Romulan's ear and felt a wave of pleasure flow through their new telepathic bond.

The ensign looked at him with concern.

"I can feel your pain, Arthur. I'm really sorry, but we need to get you to Excalibur's Sickbay. Again," Merlin said sheepishly. Then his eyes narrowed.

"No, wait. It's not physical pain, is it? Well, it is, but that's not all. You're sad. You're sorry you had to do this with me," Merlin whispered. He looked devastated.

"No. It's not that," the captain replied. "I'm not sad. Not really. More wistful than anything. I can feel your youth through our bond. Your innocence. It reminds me of a simpler time in my life. I'm a Starship captain. The fate of billions rests upon my shoulders. It has in the past. It may again in the future. And what happens if I fail the next time? What if I fail a planet like Saridin Prime instead of saving it? No one can know what that feels like until they experience it, and once they do they're never the same again."

"I don't trust anyone else to do my job. Not even Commander Morgana. Not yet. Perhaps someday I will and I'll accept the promotion to Admiral they keep offering me. I won't let go of Excalibur until then, admirals be damned! I'm trapped with the fate of worlds on my shoulders. You're not. You're free, and I'd give anything to feel that way again."

Merlin smiled at him. "Close your eyes."

He rested his hand on the side of the Captain's face. All Arthur's anxiety disappeared, replaced by a deep peace, all responsibility draining through the bond.

_That's wonderful. I never thought I'd feel like this again. Thank you, Merlin._

Arthur's attention refocused as he heard his mate gasp.

_How do you bear it? How can you live with this every day of your life? _

Merlin asked as he started shaking.

_Let it go, ensign. Release it or it'll break you. You need years to build the strength to carry it. I'll teach you._

Arthur thought. It was the first time he realized part of their conversation was taking place in his mind.

_Thank you, Arthur._

Merlin said as he removed his hand.

"Merlin, what happens now? What happens with the bond?" Arthur asked. "Do we even have a choice?"

"The bond can strengthen into something more, or it can fade with time if we let it. I never would have believed I could offer the great Captain Pendragon anything. Now I know I can. You're my mate, Arthur. You're welcome to share my company whenever you'd like. However you'd like."

"Thank you, ensign, but that won't be necessary," the captain replied, trying to reestablish at least some of their previous professional distance. His next words were the hardest he'd ever said. "We'll just let the bond fade. I'm so sorry, but it's better that way for both of us. It's better..."

"Arthur! Please don't! You can't... I mean I've waited so long for someone. Did I do something wrong? I thought we were..." Merlin whispered as he started to tremble, eyes filling with tears.

Then he blinked in surprise. Arthur could feel soft probing through the bond.

Merlin lay back on the bed and rolled onto his side. He propped his head up against the pillow and smirked as he fluttered his eyelashes coyly.

"What, Merlin? I just told you..."

"You're lying! You're lying to yourself!" Merlin said as he shook his head in amazement. "You don't think it's better. You want us to be together. More than anything! You're grasping for reasons to end it. Too old. Difference in rank. All sorts of things. You were about to convince yourself, but it's not what you feel."

He rested his hand against the side of Arthur's face again. He stopped smirking instantly and bristled as he recognized the threat.

"Something's driving you to end our bond. I can sense it. It's like a chain from your past binding you. No, it's not something, it's someone. Who..." he said before pausing. He reached further into Arthur's memory through the bond.

"Her name. Her name was Jennifer, wasn't it? She was your mate for six months before she took a disruptor blast on an Away Team mission. She pushed you out of the way. She died saving you, and you've never been able to forgive yourself for it."

"Arthur, I can see your relationship in a way you can't. I can see it objectively. If Jennifer had a chance to choose her death, there's nothing she'd would have wanted more than dying to save you. It's time to let go. Not for me. For you. You deserve someone to love. Jennifer would have agreed. I can see it, even if you can't."

_I know what you feel, Arthur. I feel what you feel, now. _

_THIS is what you really feel. * .leef yllaer uoy tahw si SIHT_

The Captain eyes widened as his own subconscious thoughts were reflected back at him. "You're right, Merlin. I don't want us to end. Ever," he whispered. "And she would have wanted it that way. Thank you. Thank you for showing me that." He snuggled back into Merlin's welcoming arms. "I just wish you trusted me as much as I trust you."

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked.

"The part of your mind you kept from me."

"Arthur, I shared everything with you. You must have been confused by the bonding." He closed his eyes and shifted the position of the hand resting on Arthur's face slightly. "See? I'm not hiding anything from you."

"You're right. But I'm sure there was," Arthur said. "Maybe it's the transference thing that sometimes happens with mindmelds."

The ensign grimaced. "Oh, I assure you, the 'transference thing' is happening, and I hope it goes away quickly. I really want this craving for burnt animal flesh to end!" the vegetarian muttered with a shudder. His eyes narrowed. "Hmm. Pendragon Sigma-Four. And the command codes for Excalibur. I guess you'd better change them. Hopefully I won't 'sense' them through the bond again."

"Eek! I'll be changing the codes immediately once we return to Excalibur! And now that you mention food, this is the first time I've ever wanted a salad by choice. Commander Gaius will be pleased. Ah well, at least part of me is unchanged by the meld. I still like donuts," Arthur said.

"I love donuts! All Romulans do! Many think it's one of the best cultural trades humanity has made with the Empire. We got donuts. You got Romulan ale," Merlin said.

"Actually, the government had to pass a law limiting the number of donuts consumed in a day after they found a senator dead with a big smile on his face. He was surrounded by twenty lemon jelly donuts, all with a bite taken out of them. The box originally held eighty donuts in assorted flavours. He was older. His body wasn't built to handle that much sugar at once. Apparently he didn't like lemon or he probably would have finished them off, too. Anyway, I sense a donut compromise Dr. Gaius is not going to be happy about!" Merlin snickered.

"Just understand one thing, Merlin. There's another bond in my life. My bond with Excalibur, and she's not going anywhere. Set off an explosion inside her again and you'll hear me screaming at you both mentally and physically!"

_Understood, O captain. _

_MY captain._

The two men laughed at Merlin's interesting choice of emphasis on "MY," a rather creative interpretation of Walt Whitman's poem. An interpretation Walt Whitman surely never intended.

They stopped laughing as their attention turned to something far more important. Both ignored the fact that need no longer played a part in what they were doing. Only desire.

"Can I make you feel the way you made me feel?" Arthur asked hopefully.

"No, I wish you could. My sense of time can't be manipulated like yours can, but sharing your emotions as I make you feel that way is wonderful! I've never been happier than when you surrendered and let me pleasure you."

"I've never surrendered before. To anyone. I, um, liked it. With you, at least," Arthur whispered as he blushed. It was a difficult admission. He had refused to surrender to the Borg Queen. Surrendering to this one was something he still had to get used to. Merlin detected his mental play on words and rolled his eyes before continuing.

"I know. I liked it, too, Arthur. I plan to make you surrender again. Now!" the Romulan growled as he flipped on top of his mate and pinned him to the bed with his superior strength. "This time the mating won't be as desperate," Merlin assured him. "Now that I know what I'm doing, I'll have more control. And practice does make perfect. I'll just have to make sure you survive my, um, 'learning curve.'"

"I'm still recovering from the last time. We'll have to wait a while," Arthur said as he stretched and winced again. His brows furrowed as something important occurred to him. He studied his lover's now gentle blue eyes. "Merlin, during the pon farr you were kind of focused on the whole 'dominant' thing. You know there are other things we can do, right? Things I can do for you? Things that won't make either of us faint?" Arthur asked.

Merlin had never given much thought to anything beyond the bonding. The acquisition of his mate had been his only focus, and that only happened one way. He looked confused. "What? What's the point of..."

"Oh, this is going to be fun!" Arthur purred. He flipped Merlin off him and started kissing his way down the young man's throat, his chest, his abs, his...

"Hey! What are you doing? Oh! Wow! I get it now. I... Just keep doing what you're doing!"

"Mmm Hmm," Arthur replied. His agreement was muffled by the task he was performing. It was his first time on the 'giving' end, but Merlin's moans were encouraging, to say the least.

Both were far too distracted by their new experience to notice the intruders beaming into the bedroom.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 19**

The scantily-clad Orion pirate raised an eyebrow as she studied the two men closely. Their people were generally relaxed around sexual issues, and this was her first chance to observe a Human in the act. She did a brief assessment.

"You're clearly a beginner, but you show promise, captain," she said.

"AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" the captain yelled as he jumped up and turned a colour of red not found in nature. The young Romulan didn't care about their embarrassing situation. He was far more interested in his mate's attraction to the woman, and he was NOT happy. He transmitted his irritation through the bond with a whip-like crack.

"OW!" Arthur yelled. He quickly figured out it was in his best interest to lose interest. Otherwise, he risked an angry mate, and the Saridins in New Orleans got the 'life hell' part dead on!

"You've probably heard of us. We're the legendary Good Pirates," the woman said as she studied Arthur curiously, trying to determine the source of his "OW!" The captain managed to cover himself and his lover with a rediscovered sheet.

"Who are the Good Pirates?" Merlin asked, curiosity overwhelming his irritation with his mate.

The woman appeared offended at his lack of familiarity with their "legend." She huffed loudly and tapped her foot as she gestured at the captain with her disruptor. He enlightened the ensign.

"The Good Pirates are a group of smugglers who refuse to follow the rather cruel policies of the Orion Syndicate. They specialize in smuggling harmless contraband items across the Neutral Zone. I suspect they may be the source of Mr. Sisko's Romulan ale. They're 'good' because they never trade in weapons or harmful products of any kind. As a result, neither the Federation nor the Romulan Empire have dedicated any significant resources to pursuing them. Both have more important things to worry about that close to the Zone. Like each other."

"Actually, I suspect I can give you an example of 'harmless.' What terrifying items are you smuggling across the Zone this time, Good Pirate? Biomimetic Gel? Trilithium resin? Metagenics?"

The pirate blushed as she scuffed the carpet with her shoe.

"Cherry-flavoured gum," she replied. "The Romulans love it nearly as much as they love those donut things. They like the type flavoured with genuine wild Terran cherries, at least. There are only a few thousand kilograms picked each year. It's almost impossible to find any wild cherry gum, even on Earth itself, and it's because of us."

"Romulans buy all the inventory they can get their hands on from us! We buy it by the case on Earth at ridiculously high prices and smuggle it across the Zone. We can afford to pay those prices because we know the Romulans will pay us a lot more. More than a Terran would ever consider paying for it. It's just not worth it to you. After all, Humans can't tell the difference between the genuine and replicated flavours. Somehow Romulans can."

_Told you!_

Merlin thought at Arthur. He snickered at the captain's mental eye-rolling.

The pirate continued. "Several Romulan senators purchased most of our stock last year. It was a particularly good vintage, and having wild cherry gum has become something of a status symbol. The lower classes have to settle for the replicated variety."

"Well, you don't seem so bad. Actually you sound pretty harmless. I can see why Starfleet doesn't pay much attention to you," Merlin said. "Um, what kind of cherries?"

The pirate smiled at him, recognizing a potential customer. "Morello, my Romulan friend. We've got several packs of it."

"MORELLO? I'll trade HIM for a pack of Morello!" Merlin said excitedly as he nodded towards Arthur. The captain glowered at him. He was fairly sure his mate was joking. He continued with a warning to the pirates.

"Starfleet didn't pay much attention to you. Until now. Starfleet is about to start paying a great deal of attention to you. Threatening a Starship captain, trespassing on a Starship, seizing control of said Starship. A VERY great deal of attention," Arthur said.

"Not as much attention as you might think, captain. You see, you're going to give us what we want, and everything's going to be fine."

"And what is it you want? Our high-frequency shielding? Replicator technology? Medical equipment? All of it is inventoried and molecularly coded," Arthur said. "You'll never be able to sell it."

"Don't worry. We want something that will bring us more money than all those things combined, and all we need to do is replicate it. No missing equipment from your yacht. You just have to add value. We want this," the pirate said with a glint in her eye.

"SON OF A..." the captain yelled, nearly completing the sentence before Merlin's howling interrupted him.

"That's the funniest thing I ever heard!" his mate managed to gasp out as he laughed uncontrollably.

"So, will you accommodate us, or do we do something rash? Like vandalizing your yacht beyond all recognition? Trust me, disruptor fire is really difficult to remove from carpeting, mainly because it vapourizes the carpet and the deck under it as well," the pirate said. Then a huge grin formed on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a tricorder, briefly studying the information it contained.

"Better yet, if you don't give us what we want, I suppose we'll need to provide an equally desirable alternative. Like the scan of the two of you a few minutes ago."

The captain growled. He hated giving in to the pirates but he valued his privacy far more. Their request also wasn't too arduous. He sighed and nodded.

"Excellent! We'll start now. It shouldn't take you more than an hour to sign a hundred of the 'Defeated Pendragon' photos. I think a hundred will be enough. We don't want to flood the market, after all," she said. "You've annoyed a lot of people over the years, captain. All the photos your clever crew sold were snapped up by Starfleet officers. There are lots of regular citizens who want one, too, and they're willing to pay. A lot!"

The captain ground his teeth as they tied them to the bed and strapped his hand to the nightstand, a few centimetres from the stack of photos and a pen. They lacked the courtesy to let them dress first.

"More importantly for you, we're going to neutralize the verteron contamination disabling your subspace transceiver free of charge. You'll be able to call for help once we leave and you escape your bondage. Unless you like that sort of thing, I suppose. Maybe just one of you should escape. That can be a LOT of fun, I assure you. Anyway, fixing your transceiver should keep us on your good side," she said cheerfully. "We'll leave you to your work and go explore your ship. Who knows, maybe you left a terminal unsecured. Information can be worth nearly as much as gum."

"Wait! There's one thing I don't understand. How did you know I was on this ship?" the captain asked.

"Silly captain! We're not going to reveal our sources. We came across some information that led us to believe your yacht would be traveling to the Neutral Zone at maximum warp via the most direct route possible. You implied in your flight plan that you needed to escape something unpleasant. We tuned our shields to filter out the verteron radiation, dragged the probe to your likeliest course, attached an emergency beacon and left it there. Your duty did the rest."

The captain glanced at Merlin subconsciously when he heard the "something unpleasant."

Merlin eyes widened. "ESCAPE? UNPLEASANT? YOU... YOU..."

"Don't complete that sentence, ensign. I'd be most unhappy if I had to confine my mate to quarters for insubordination," Arthur said.

_PRAT!_

Merlin finished with a telepathic shout that made him wince. The captain would have to decide later whether insults through their bond counted. He also made a mental note to look up the meaning of the word when they returned to Excalibur. Both men's expressions must have tipped off the Orion. She chuckled.

"I'll leave you two gentlemen to your little 'silent spat.' Now, if you'll excuse us we'll go check out your bridge," the pirate said.

The door hissed shut behind them as they finally left the bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

The Final Frontier

by JulieGee

**CHAPTER 20**

The captain and ensign looked around frantically for anything to get them out of their current predicament. Merlin glanced behind him. A black sleeve was sticking out from the headboard on the captain's side of the bed.

"Captain! When I tore off our uniforms I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking rationally enough to remove the communicators first. One of the uniforms must have floated in here while we were in zero-gee. It's behind the headboard. I can't reach it. Can you?" Merlin asked.

"Hold on," Arthur said. He leaned over and and tugged on the sleeve with his teeth before he managed to pluck the communicator off the garment. His four new teeth reacted with the metal. He tossed it to Merlin as he screeched as quietly as possible. Merlin winced as he saw the blue arcs cross the captain's teeth and the anger cross his face.

"Be quiet! They'll hear you!" the ensign managed to whisper before he caught the communicator in his own teeth and started nibbling a message in code. The captain listened closely.

"You're using some kind of override channel. I've never heard anything like the command sequence before," the captain whispered as he listened to the beeps. Once Merlin finished he turned to the captain to explain.

"It was supposed to be a present for your birthday next week. I felt bad about the whole 'phaser on the holodeck' thing. Then I learned about the yellow paint of shame and I realized what my little stunt cost you in status. There's a reason the Saridins bumped into us in New Orleans. I told them where we were going for dinner when I stepped into your bathroom to colour my hair. While I was playing jazz, one of them gave me the prototype I asked them to build."

"I requested it last week while we were heading back to Earth on the Yamato. It took them less than a day to construct it. They're skilled engineers and having eight hands helps speed things up. They jumped like fleas at the chance to do something for their HighQueen. Literally jumped! Like fleas!"

"The hardest thing was getting a copy of the plans transferred without setting off a million security alarms. They're classified, but the Yamato's computer was quite helpful. I think it was scared I'd 'separate' it like I did the Excalibur if it irritated me too much. I think every ship in the fleet might be terrified of me."

Suddenly they heard blood-curdling screams from the pirates in the next room. The screaming continued for several seconds while the pirates' disruptors sang a desperate note. The sound of transporters was barely audible. They watched the pirates' ship pull away and go to warp.

"What just happened?" the very confused Captain Pendragon asked.

"I told her to disable the pirates. I also told her to do something else. It sounds like she's trying to open a communications channel. I think the verteron radiation is still affecting our communications. We can see what she's transmitting, but the rest is audio only."

The captain blinked in surprise as a huge red eye appeared on one of the bedroom status displays. He could see part of the yacht's bridge in the background.

"What the..." the captain asked before being cut off in mid question.

"Wait," Merlin said as he listened with ears far more sensitive than the human's. He could hear the command sequences being entered on the computer panels through the bedroom door.

"She's scanning for nearby vessels. She's found the closest one! Now she's figuring out the transmitter. It shouldn't be long before..."

They heard a familiar voice.

"Message to U.S.S. Intrepid and/or any Federation Starship. This is a distress call. This ship is damaged. Federation officers in distress. List follows: Pendragon, Arthur Gaylord, Captain. Emrys, Merlin, Ensign. Message to U.S.S. Intrepid and/or any Federation Starship. This is a distress call. This ship is damaged..."

"GAYLORD??? I paid a Ferengi computer expert a small fortune to erase any record of my middle name from every database in the Federation before I entered Starfleet Academy. How in the hell does she know it? Never mind. I don't need our bond to figure out you're involved somehow, and I promise you I'll get you for it later!"

"Now, what are you trying to tell me, Merlin? Who's that calling for help? Did she sneak aboard with the pirates or is she a stowaway?"

Merlin winced. This could get ugly. "Um..."

The huge red eye moved back until two eyes and a pink nose filled the viewscreen. The captain's brows furrowed as he studied the alien. It was very familiar.

"WHO IS THAT? WHO'S IN COMMAND OF MY YACHT?" the captain yelled. He heard a chitter as the alien wiggled her nose in delight, clearly proud of her accomplishments. Merlin sighed as he finally answered the captain's question.

"It's Kathy, your holoferret."

"KATHY? MY HOLOFERRET? HOW IN THE HELL..." Arthur yelled before he lowered his voice at Merlin's whimper. The Romulan's very sensitive ear was less than a metre from him. "Holograms can't leave the Holodeck. They just disappear, and there aren't any holoemitters on the bridge. How's she able to do it?"

"The Saridins built a mobile emitter from the plans I found in the Yamato's computer. Then I had them transfer Kathy's program from what was left of the Excalibur into it. The emitter rests on her back. I used the communicator to send her a coded message. I told her to 'get' the pirates and then 'squeal' for help. It sounds like she scared them away. I have no idea how, but she's pretty creative, and her claws do feel real. Plus, they're holoclaws so they're always sharp. She probably..." he paused mid-sentence as a horrible realization struck him.

"Captain! Her voice! I only asked the Saridins to program Kathy with one voice. It was supposed to be a joke when she lectured you, but she's using those vocal subroutines to call for help."

"WHOSE VOICE IS KATHY USING?" the captain shouted again, this time not caring about his mate's whimper.

"Admiral Janeway's. You always said Kathy's lectures sounded like hers. I thought you'd get a kick out of it. I, um, wonder if the admiral will. She's taking the Seventh Fleet to the Neutral Zone, isn't she? The fleet was several days behind us and the Intrepid's her flagship. That's probably why the Intrepid was the closest ship Kathy could find. The admiral's ship is leading the fleet."

Merlin shook his head. "Tens of thousands of ships in Starfleet and Admiral Janeway's ship is the closest one? You've been pretty unlucky recently, Arthur."

"I'm pretty sure you're my 'unlucky charm,' Merlin," the captain said. His face fell.

"I'm going to be an admiral by the end of the day. It's the worst revenge she'll be able to come up with that doesn't involve torture."

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the Intrepid."

"Distress call received. Intrepid altering course to intercept. And just who the HELL are you?" Admiral Janeway asked. They didn't have to see her face. The audio only transmission was pretty clear and her tone was NOT pleasant. She knew her own voice when she heard it.

"I am Kathy. I am a holoferret. I give wonderful lectures. I give them constantly. I give them for long periods of time. And just who the HELL are you?" she asked, matching the admiral's inflection perfectly.

"'Damn! Kathy's artificial intelligence subroutines have started working. She must have established a link with the Albion's main computer. She's tapped into the universal translator and started learning phrases. I dunno, Captain. I'm not so sure you'll be an admiral by the end of the day. It sounds like you might be an ensign, instead."

Kathy leaned back on the control panel, snapping into focus as she finally backed far enough away from the sensor. The captain winced as she started singing "Hail Pendragon" in Janeway's voice. Every other word of the anthem was muffled by her tongue as she cleaned bits of pirate off her paws.

Arthur closed his eyes and shook his head. "Merlin, you've destroyed my ship and now you've destroyed my career. Anything else planned for this week, my love?"

"No, my dear, although I don't think Kathy has done cleaning up yet. She grows Admiral Janeway's bobcut from her head to her tail once she's finished grooming."

The captain watched the wall display in horror as his holopet's fur grew to match the admiral's hairstyle. The Saridins' workmanship was impressive. Kathy really did look a lot like Janeway with her new hair. He held on to the faint hope that the admiral had already closed the channel. His hope died quickly.

"PENDRAGON!" the real Janeway screeched, the uncontrolled laughter of her bridge crew audible in the background.

"Kathy's finished grooming," Merlin said unnecessarily.

Arthur sighed. He was still tied up, but he managed to bite the sleeve of his shredded uniform and tug it free of the headboard. He started pulling off the four gold metal 'pips' that indicated his captain's rank with his teeth, spitting them out as he went along.

He left one on the collar. He had always been an optimist. He was pretty sure the admiral would make him an ensign and not a cadet.

* * *

**A/N: **Here's a question for you that'll have an impact on the story. Do you think Kathy should return occasionally in future chapters, or has our little holoferret served her purpose? :)

Also, in case you're not a Star Trek fan, "Captain Janeway" commanded the U.S.S. Voyager in the TV series "Star Trek: Voyager" before becoming "Vice Admiral Janeway" in the movie "Star Trek: Nemesis." If you're curious about her, go to Wikipedia and search for "Kathryn Janeway." It gives a lot of history on her.

Cheers!

JulieGee


	21. Chapter 21

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 21**

A few minutes into their noisiest spat to date, the captain's eyes widened in dismay as he saw a familiar form materialize out of thin air. A familiar form with her hands on her hips. Admiral Janeway appeared in their bedroom with a scowl on her face. She rapidly lost it when she saw the two naked men tied spreadeagled to the bed.

"CAPTAIN! AND ENSIGN!" she gasped in surprise. She quickly scanned them with her tricorder to make sure there were no "booby traps." Then she moved to untie the ropes holding them. She thought better of it. A lot of contact with bare flesh would be involved, and some in embarrassing places. She drew her phaser and aimed it at the captain.

For a second, Arthur thought he'd gone too far this time and she had decided to eliminate the source of her irritation once and for all. He flinched as she fired. The rope tying them to the bed vapourized after several carefully targeted shots. The admiral was VERY good with a phaser. The two men grabbed the closest sheet and wrapped themselves in it. Merlin hadn't left much of their uniforms when he tore them off.

She holstered her phaser and glowered at the captain. "Pendragon, if you think your now-ended captivity is going to save you from my wrath, you've got another thing..."

"Excalibur to Albion," Commander Morgana's clear voice echoed through the ship. "Do you still require assistance?" she asked as the Excalibur dropped out of warp a few kilometres away from them.

"Morgana! Two for emergency site-to-site transport to Sickbay. We may be contaminated. Initiate isolation protocols and energize!"

Janeway's eyes flashed with amusement as she watched the men start to sparkle. The captain was a clever man. Chief Medical Officers were difficult creatures to deal with on the best of days. She could beam them back to the Albion, but she'd have a very difficult time explaining to the doctor why she felt the need to transport two wounded officers out of Sickbay so she could continue lecturing them.

Initiating the isolation protocols was equally clever. No one could beam into Sickbay until they were terminated, and that would take a while. She had time for a brief comment before they disappeared.

"Oh, you can run but you can't hide, captain! I'll get you my pretty, and you're little ferret, too!" she said as they started to disappear in the Excalibur's transporter beam.

Clearly the holodeck programs the admiral's alter ego 'Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People' had been enjoying with her helmsman had taught her a few choice phrases. "The Wizard of Oz" had become one of her favourite movies.

The sparkle around the two men stopped abruptly. "Captain, we're having difficulty beaming you out. We'll boost the matter gain and beam in instead. Security, with me."

"NO, MORGANA! DON'T..."

Two showers of light materialized into Morgana and Gwen. The Security officer had her phaser already drawn.

"CAPTAIN! AND ENSIGN!" Commander Morgana gasped as she echoed the admiral's initial observation.

"Wow! I guess those tips I gave you on picking up men worked pretty well, didn't they? You aimed high!" Gwen observed as she nodded at the captain.

Morgana looked up and snickered as she pointed at the ceiling. Gwen followed her arm and saw the Arthur-shaped dent.

"Really high! And a bit too literally, I think. I just wish we had the 'before' image."

The admiral tapped her tricorder. "'Before' image," she said with a smirk.

A very refreshed ensign bounced off the bed wrapped in the sheet, whistling happily. He grinned at Morgana with that unmistakeable 'I just got laid' look. "Hi Morgy! We're going to sickbay. I think Dr. Gaius will want to see us. We'll update you."

"MORGY?" the Commander asked, with a shocked look. The captain was the only person who EVER called her Morgy. A second tried once. He was buried on Elidon IV.

"Oops! Sorry, Commander Morgana. I didn't mean, well, that might happen for a while. C'mon, Merlin. I mean Arthur! NO, CAPTAIN!" Merlin said, clearly suffering from identity issues.

Captain Pendragon sighed. His own thoughts were quite muddled by the transference from their bonding. Then Morgana said the thing he'd never forget no matter how hard he tried.

"Anything else, Gaylord?"

"How do YOU know that?" the captain yelled. "And it's pronounced gay-lerd not gay-lord."

"Well, it was included in a distress call to 'any Federation Starship.' If the whole Federation doesn't know your middle name by now it will when the signal reaches them. In fact, it's gone further. We received a rather garbled message from Klingon Chancellor Gowron. It was garbled because of the laughter. Every discernible word was 'Gaylord.'"

"I'm afraid the universal translator is suffering from a misconception. It's convinced your middle name isn't a name, but two separate words. One of them a position. The other a lifestyle choice. It translates your middle name as 'Homosexual of High Station' in Klingon."

"Wonderful. Just wonderful," the captain muttered as he heard the Excalibur's docking clamps lock onto his yacht. A few seconds later he limped out of the Albion and onto the Excalibur, heading for Sickbay. Again.

As he considered the translation of his middle name, he prayed the universal translator didn't guess the "bottom" part.

"If you'll forgive me, captain, while this has been extremely enjoyable for me, I have a fleet to command. Let me know when you've recovered from your 'date.'" Admiral Janeway said sweetly. "Oh, here's your ferret," she said as she flipped him the coin-sized holoemitter. She disappeared in a sparkle of light a few seconds later.

"Commander, update me while we go to Sickbay," the captain said, as he tried to reestablish some sense of normalcy.

"We've joined the Seventh Fleet along the boarder of the Neutral Zone, captain. We've detected multiple Warbirds cloaking and decloaking at random. We believe it's an attempt to intimidate us. Also, we..."

The captain stumbled as they reached the turbolift. Morgana caught him as they stepped into it. They spun around at the sound of a screech. Merlin charged towards at the turbolift at stunning speed.

"What the hell..." the captain asked as the turbolift doors closed. A moment later a crunching sound made them leap back. The impact actually bent the doors slightly. They tried to open them, but the outer door panels had bent enough to wedge them shut. They could hear hissing and scratching sounds from the other side, and then a growl. The sound of phaser fire followed shortly after.

"Security to Yacht Docking Bay," a voice from the speaker above them stated calmly. They looked at each other in shock as they heard the frantic cry of "More Security! More Secur..." The plea was cut off in mid-sentence with a cry. The phaser fire stopped abruptly. They heard scrabbling. A few later there was a thunking sound on the turbolift roof.

"He's trying to get in using the emergency hatch! I don't know what's wrong with him, but I know where we can find out. Sickbay!" he yelled at the turbolift, as he held the lock on the hatch shut. The computer noted the destination and the desperation in his voice and gave them priority.

When they arrived at the correct corridor they pried the turbolift doors open and ran for Sickbay. They heard a crash behind them as the turbolift escape hatch flew off its hinges. Merlin dropped to the floor. He did NOT look happy. If there were any doubt of his rage, the deafening screech eliminated it. He ran at them.

They managed to make it to Sickbay. The commander yelled "Emergency Close!" as they ran through the doors. A dent formed in them seconds later. Fingers appeared through the space between the door panels. They started to open.

"Dr. Selar!" the captain yelled.

The Vulcan doctor jumped slightly at their panicked shout. "Captain! What..." Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. "A mating bond. A new one." She raised an eyebrow at a howl from the corridor. "Your mate is clearly displeased with you," she stated calmly.

"DISPLEASED?" Morgana said incredulously. "I think that's a bit of an under... Wait." She turned on the captain. "MATE? Emrys is your MATE? When did..."

She was cut off as the Sickbay doors flew across the room. Prying the doors open had clearly been taking too long for the enraged ensign. They could see a boot print in one of the panels. Merlin saw the captain and Morgana and screeched in fury.

Dr. Selar grabbed them and threw them at a biobed with her considerable strength. "Isolate biobed two," she said calmly. A glittering field formed around the bed. "Security to Sickbay."

Merlin charged across Sickbay and leapt at the barrier. The containment field stopped him as he struck it with his shoulder. It flickered under the impact, repeated again and again as the crazed half-Romulan tried to attack the commander. The computer wasn't happy with the situation.

"Warning. Containment field projected failure in 7 seconds... 6... 5... 4... Increasing containment field strength to level two." The ensign continued to hurl himself at the flickering wall.

"Warning. Containment field projected failure in 32 seconds... 31... 30... 29... Increasing containment field strength to level three."

"Warning. Containment field projected failure in 4 minutes, 9 seconds... 8... 7... 6... Increasing containment field strength to level four. Isolating Sickbay."

Ensign Gwen materialized a second before a sparkling field appeared in front of the shattered doors, sealing them in. Merlin turned around, prepared to attack the new intruder. His eyes narrowed. He hissed loudly in warning and started crashing against the field again.

"Why's he only attacking Commander Morgana?" the stunned captain asked.

The doctor scanned them and glanced at her tricorder. The readings were clear.

"Pheromones, primarily. Both you and Commander Morgana are attracted to each other, probably as a result of a decade of service together. Not surprising, really. However, regardless of the nature of the attraction, you must have been separated from your mate in some manner. This perceived threat to the bond is driving the ensign's reaction."

"The turbolift door closed and separated us. And we are not attracted to each other, doctor!" Arthur stated firmly.

The doctor glanced at her tricorder and raised an eyebrow. The captain focused on a non-existent spot on the ceiling. Morgana chose a similar spot on the floor.

"Ensign Gwen and myself are not attracted to the captain. As a result, the ensign's reaction is milder than might be expected given the fact that others are present."

"MILDER?" Ensign Gwen asked in shock. Her snarling, hissing friend was assessing Morgana with eyes like ice. Their blue colour was barely visible. His pupils had dilated, trying to let in as much light as possible, calculating vectors, determining the most efficient way to tear out the commander's throat. She could swear his ears had actually shifted back slightly, like a cat about to attack.

"Odd. The ensign's fury is intensely focused. He seems threatened by the commander. Did you touch one another?" she asked them in a scolding tone.

"We certainly did not!" the captain said.

"Yes, we did! The captain stumbled and I caught him as we stepped into the turbolift," Morgana explained.

"And then the doors closed. This explains his behaviour. He will harm himself if he does not stop attacking the containment field. A tranquilizer should control him," Dr. Selar said confidently.

She pressed some buttons on her hypospray and took a step towards Merlin. He turned on her and hissed. She leapt back quickly. He growled his approval, turned and screeched again at the commander, still pushing against the containment field.

"He may be damaged by a phaser on stun, as he is in constant contact with the field. We also cannot transport him to the Brig as Sickbay has been isolated due to repeated potential containment field failure," the doctor said. She tapped her lip thoughtfully. "An option remains. Computer, activate the EMH."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the Emergency Medical Hologram asked as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Crazy Romulan," Dr. Selar stated succinctly as she pointed at the source of the problem. She needn't have. The yowling was difficult to miss. The EMH's brows furrowed as he observed the young man.

His scanner indicated the ensign had already broken his nose and dislocated his shoulder by hurling himself against the field. In addition, he had torn out four of his fingernails with his scrabbling. Less concerning, his throat would be raw tomorrow from all the feral sounds he was making. The EMH considered the situation.

"Crazy Romulan," the holodoctor replied as he rolled his eyes. "It's never a broken arm, or a virus, or a phaser burn, is it?"

The Doctor's holographic nature allowed him to approach Merlin. Technically he didn't exist. He was a combination of light and force fields, and Merlin didn't perceive him as a threat. The Doctor rested a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder. Unfortunately for Merlin, it didn't stay very comforting for long. The doctor repositioned his fingers and squeezed lightly. The ensign collapsed to the deck in a heap, unconscious.

"The Vulcan Nerve Pinch. It never gets old, does it?" Gwen observed as she holstered her phaser.

"I will lower the ensign's neurotransmitter levels. It should prevent the more violent reactions, but we should not tempt fate. I recommend avoiding a 'wandering eye' for the next several days, captain," Dr. Selar said as she tapped a few buttons on a wall panel. The containment field around the biobed and the Sickbay door disappeared, leaving the captain and the commander staring at the softly snoring ensign at their feet.

"No 'wandering eye,' Captain?" the commander said, incredulously. She knelt beside Merlin. "Good luck with your new mate, ensign," she whispered in his ear. She watched in amazement as he started scratching at her shoe, soft growls interrupting his snoring.

"I think I'll be carrying a phaser tomorrow, Captain. Maximum stun. If he gets anywhere near me he's going to be snoring again a second later!" Commander Morgana said as she stormed out of Sickbay.

Arthur leaned back against the biobed and took a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. All newly married couples had much to learn about each other, but usually the lessons weren't the 'life and death' kind.

The commander was right about one thing, though. He'd better focus his attention on Merlin!

* * *

**A/N**: Feel free to let me know if you enjoyed 'possessive!merlin.' Hopefully he's as much fun to read as he was to write! :)

JulieGee


	22. Chapter 22

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 22**

Captain Pendragon stepped off the turbolift and onto the bridge the next morning. The dermal regenerators had done their job well. Other than a few scratches, the Captain looked like he was back to his old self. He wasn't even walking funny anymore.

Commander Morgana vacated the command chair and moved to her regular position at his right-hand side. The Captain tripped as he walked down the ramp and took the seat at... The helm? She raised an eyebrow. His hair was messy, he had forgotten three pips on his collar, and his communicator was upside down. She didn't even want to think about the scuff marks on his usually perfect boots.

The turbolift doors opened again and Ensign Emrys stepped out. He looked immaculate. Every hair in position, and not a speck of dust anywhere. He strode confidently to the centre seat and sat down. His fingers flew competently over the armrest as he cleared his throat, still hoarse from his yowling the previous day.

"Captain's Log, Stardate...."

"Warning. Captain's Log accessible only to Pendragon, Arthur, Captain. Please request command code transfer before continuing or terminate this entry," the computer stated firmly.

Arthur's jaw dropped as he realized where he was sitting. He spun in the helm seat to look at Morgana and Merlin.

Merlin looked back at him, hands gripping the armrests of the command chair in shock. Obviously their 'transference' problem hadn't gone away yet. Both sheepishly changed positions quickly.

Morgana regarded both of them with a stunned look, careful to avoid touching the captain. The results hadn't been pleasant the last time. The placid ensign was hardly the man who had tried to tear out her throat the day before, but there was no need to tempt fate.

A gasp from the science station caught her attention.

T'Lar would feel mortified at the lapse, but there was clearly a reason for it. The Captain was broadcasting embarrassment. It was deafening! She could barely think. Some kind of bond had augmented the human's nearly nonexistent telepathic abilities and he clearly had no idea how to control them. But how? And who with?

The bond was fresh. A mating bond. Interference wouldn't be tolerated. She reached out and lightly touched the captain's thoughts. A powerful shield sprang up between her and the captain instantly.

Merlin leapt from his seat at the helm and glared at her, eyes flashing with fury. Her head snapped back from the power of his telepathic scream of rage. It carried no doubt. It was a promise.

_TOUCH MY MATE AGAIN AND I WILL BREAK YOU _

His eyes widened as he realized who he had just threatened.

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She wouldn't blame herself later. Any Vulcan would have a hard time keeping a straight face under these conditions!

_My apologies, ensign. It is unacceptable to touch he who belongs to you. Only curiosity, I assure you._

The captain studied the two officers standing in front of him. They weren't saying anything, but their expressions were certainly changing. He could hear only a whisper of their thoughts, but unlike before he could now understand them as they bickered.

_"It's illogical to resort to such measures to satisfy curiosity," Merlin thought at her._

_"It's not illogical," she disagreed._

_Then you're illogical._

_You are!_

_No, you are!_

_You're ten times illogical!_

_You're infinity times illogical!_

"Both of you shut up! I can't hear myself think! Literally!" the captain yelled. Everyone on the bridge turned to look at him. Until his yell no one had been saying anything verbally.

"Captain, are you hearing voices in your head?" his First Officer asked quietly as she looked at him with concern.

"There ARE voices in my head!" he growled truthfully as the two bickering officers blushed green. The truth in his statement must have been apparent. He sighed as Morgana turned to her panel and opened a secure channel to the doctor. He swore he'd strangle his mate if he had to return to Sickbay for a psych evaluation this time. He heard a beep behind him.

Ensign Gwen looked at a flashing light on her tactical panel. "Sir, one of the Starships has moved out of position with the fleet. It's closing on us. We're receiving a request for a priority Medical transport. Um, it's to our bridge, sir," she said as she shook her head. Medical transports always went to Sickbay. The day had just started and it was already turning weird.

"Why isn't Sickbay... Never mind. Authorized," the captain muttered.

A soft sparkle of light changed into a friendly form. Ensign Gwen smiled when she saw the woman materialize. Her friend had helped her deal with the death of her best friend after a Borg attack on the Enterprise. She forgot herself briefly.

"Deanna!"

Counsellor Troi's smile was genuine. She moved a few centimetres towards Gwen before checking herself. Commanders did NOT hug ensigns on the bridge. In fact, ideally, they didn't hug anyone on the bridge. A quick shake of her head stopped Gwen before she embarrassed herself. The young woman blushed at the image of what had nearly happened.

Merlin was interested in the counsellor for a very different reason. His eyes narrowed as he felt her soft mental probes whipping around the bridge, searching for those involved in the mental scream that attracted her attention from thousands of kilometres away. Just before her probes touched Arthur, Merlin raised a second powerful shield, this time between his mate and the counsellor. She blinked in surprise.

Merlin started to sweat. It required significant mental energy to shield his mate from the two telepathic women sniffing around him. He strengthened his own shields against the counsellor's probes as she focused all her attention on him. He could hear the counsellor, but he could transmit only concepts to the Betazoid woman.

_Ensign, why are you shielding the captain?_

_PERSONAL!_

_Unacceptable! I order you to drop your shields and answer my question now!_

_NO! PERSONAL! CHALLENGE!_

It was Merlin's turn to blink as his shields rang like a bell. The counsellor wasn't as powerful as he was, but she was far more experienced. Her telepathic abilities had been augmented by decades of practice, and she had learned some new skills over the years. She wasn't going to tolerate a challenge of any kind. He didn't blame her. He could feel her deep concern. She suspected he was manipulating the captain telepathically. She was going to use the psychic equivalent of a sledgehammer to break his shields and discover the truth, if necessary.

Much to the counsellor's shock, T'Lar took Merlin's side. She merged her shield with his and protected the captain from the counsellor's curiosity.

_"Lieutenant-Commander! I order you to lower your shields at once!" the counsellor snapped at her telepathically._

_NO. PRIVATE ISSUE. ROMULAN/VULCAN/HUMAN ISSUE,"_ Merlin thought back at her.

_Explain what you mean now!_

_"NO! PRIVATE!"_ Merlin replied.

_"PRIVATE!"_ T'Lar agreed.

_This is hardly an issue of 'the birds and the bees,' now, is it? WAIT? IS IT?_

_"PRIVATE!" both of them thought back at her._

The counsellor's eyes narrowed as she turned and studied the captain visually.

_**&#*%^#*$!**_

Her head snapped back from the mental assault. She hadn't expected an attempt to communicate from the human, and certainly not one that unfocused.

_Captain? Can you hear me?_

_***#^$*#($&!**_

_Are we too quiet, or can you..._

_**&#$^%^#&!**_

_"STOP THAT!" all three telepaths shouted mentally._

The power of their inaudible shout would have stopped any of them had they been on the receiving end, but the captain didn't even blink. He was only sensitive enough to hear whispers, but he was capable of screaming. If they could harness it as a skill to teach humans, they would be armed with a powerful mental weapon! He was comprehensible if she blocked almost all of the deafening broadcast.

_**S0AR1E**_

_Just don't do it again! It's blocking our communication and it's rude. Now, how are you communicating with us. You don't have telepathic ability. Potential, but not ability. What augmented your power? It's a mating bond, isn't it? It has a unique quality. Who did you...?_

_**M#RL1N**_

"Wait! I didn't mean to think that!" the captain said, wincing as the thought escaped him. A look of comprehension appeared on the counsellor's face.

"Now THAT'S funny!" she said as she howled with laughter telepathically.

_**N0TFUNNEE!**_

"Ouch! Sorry, Captain," the counsellor said with a wince. "I need to speak freely with you. Perhaps your Ready Room would be a better place for this discussion?"

The captain stood and walked to his Ready Room, gesturing for Merlin, T'Lar and Troi to follow him. As the door swished shut the captain turned and glowered at the counsellor.

"Forgive me, Captain. I shouldn't have laughed at you. You're right, it's not funny. As you just saw, you unintentionally gave us one of your thoughts. "Merlin" was embarrassing but not critical information. You must learn to control your new abilities or you may broadcast more sensitive information. Hearing your thoughts during a tactical confrontation would be entirely too helpful for an enemy, and entirely too possible for a Romulan adept," the counsellor said as she switched from telepathic to verbal communication.

"Agreed, counsellor. Your observation on the tactical issue is completely correct. I'll start training immediately. I'll just consider it an extension of my martial arts training. If I can learn to control my body, I can learn to control my thoughts as well."

"I'm sorry, counsellor. I shouldn't have shielded him. It was a powerful instinct," Merlin said as he blushed.

"I understand, ensign. The pon farr issue is interesting. You're half human, which may have been the trigger. I've heard of Romulans going through it, but from our research it seems some may and some may not. Even informants are pretty secretive about it."

"Still, I should have the control to prevent myself from assaulting other officers mentally."

"Agreed. But remember, I'm part Betazoid and you're part Romulan, but we're both part Human. The Human issues can be... Significant. We still have several days before we reach the Neutral Zone. I'll arrange some sessions with Syvek, your Astrometrics officer. With all respect to T'Lar and your mate Syvek's skills vastly exceed theirs and he's trained others in the past," Counsellor Troi replied.

"Thank you, counsellor," Merlin said.

"You're very welcome, ensign. I am curious about one other thing, though. Did you really shoot your 'mate' with a phaser on the holodeck?"

Captain Pendragon glared at her. She already knew the answer, but she had promised a certain Klingon officer she'd tease the former "blue master" about it. Worf had been particularly humiliated when the captain defeated him using a Klingon bathlet. He owned one of the autographed photos of the captain flying through the air with an orange beam hitting his chest.

"Oh, and I heard about the 'Emrys Maneuver' in my tactical update report. Crashing the saucer section into the Warbird was brilliant! Someday I'll tell you about the time I crashed the Enterprise's saucer section into a planet!"

"You're joking!" the incredulous ensign replied.

"I'm afraid not. Captain Picard was despondent at first, but he cheered up considerably when he found out he was getting the Enterprise-E. He was never really comfortable with children on board. Anyway, I'm returning to Enterprise, and I'll discuss your situation with the doctor immediately, ensign."

"One last thing. I can sense you've both been through a lot over the past few weeks. You REALLY need a vacation, captain, and I suspect the ensign needs one as well. Perhaps you should consider visiting Risa, or perhaps Pacifica. At the very least, a visit to the holodeck for a day is in order."

"Now, if you'll excuse me I have several counselling sessions scheduled this morning. A pleasure meeting all of you," she said with a smile.

"Enterprise, beam me back. Energize."

The counsellor disappeared from their ship and their thoughts in a wash of light.

Morgana paused to consider the counsellor's suggestion. "Captain, I know you usually only visit the holodeck in private, but Holodeck Three runs public simulations constantly. Risa's on Saturday, a simulation of a Paris cafe runs on Tuesdays, and Pacifica's on Thursdays. I'm not sure about the other days, but tomorrow's Thursday, and a nice, warm beach on Pacifica is beckoning. If you'd like, I can join you tomorrow morning. I don't have to be on the bridge until the evening and it would be a nice break for me, too. Now, do you agree, or do I have to call the doctor? Again."

"I think a vacation's a pretty good idea, Morgana. See you on Holodeck Three tomorrow at 8 am. Oh, we would enjoy your company, ensign. Care to join us?" he asked Gwen.

Her broad smile answered his question.

* * *

A/N: Hopefully I'll be able to publish Chapter 23 later this week. Hopefully you're still enjoying the story.

Cheers!

JulieGee


	23. Chapter 23

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 23**

Merlin's desire flowed through their bond for the third time that morning.

_Want You Again, Pretty Man_

Arthur's uncontrolled reply was much less flattering.

_Want Donut More_

Merlin rolled his eyes as his lover blushed. The captain still didn't have much control over his new telepathic abilities.

"FINE!" he pouted. "Breakfast it is. But you know, I might live to be over three hundred years old. You're not going to make it to a hundred if you don't start eating a salad every so often!"

"Not everything in life can be fixed with a salad, Merlin," the captain replied with a smile.

"No, but a lot can be! Sure, you get all your nutrients in whatever you order, but they keep discovering new ones. And you know where those new ones are most often found? In places like salad! Just a few a week. Maybe you won't tire out so quickly in bed," he said as he batted his eyes playfully at his mate.

"TIRE OUT SO QUICKLY? Why you little monster! How's THIS for tired out," Arthur replied with a smirk as he threw Merlin on the bed. He glanced at the screen beside the bed as it started to beep softly.

"Damn! We're meeting Gwen and Morgana in ten minutes. We're already running late. Just bring your swimsuit with you and we'll change there."

Merlin rolled off the bed with a soft sigh of disappointment. The captain's punctuality could be incredibly aggravating at times. They left his quarters together. A few minutes after arriving on the holodeck, they stepped out of the Pacifica Beach change room wearing their new swimsuits.

"THAT'S your swimsuit?" Arthur asked as he looked disapprovingly at Merlin.

"What? Isn't this acceptable?"

"It is if you're a woman. Microthongs don't work well on men, and the lime colour doesn't go with your green skin tone at all. You liked the results of 'dress the ensign' before. How about I select one for you?" He paused to look his mate up and down before speaking to the computer.

A few minutes later he grinned broadly when Merlin stepped out of the change room gleaming with suntan oil. It wasn't necessary on the holodeck, but the ensign wanted the full Pacifica experience. "Is this better?" he asked Arthur, hands on his hips. He watched in surprise as lust flamed in his mate's eyes.

Arthur pushed him back into the change room and secured the door, punctuality be damned! Their privacy was ensured by the holodeck. They didn't meet Morgana and Gwen until nearly 10 am. When they finally showed up on the beach the results were unanticipated.

"Oh, my god," Gwen whispered as conversation on the holodeck stopped. Morgana turned to look where she was pointing. She took a sharp breath.

The captain and the ensign were stunning together, and had clearly decided to go swimming. A very small piece of fabric preserved their modesty. The Speedo had been popular for centuries, and both were wearing the form-fitting style. Merlin's was red. Arthur's was blue. The comm badges on their waistbands flashed as they reflected the intense sunlight. Their matching black sunglasses multiplied the 'cool factor' as they turned their heads in unison to search for their friends. They spotted them and waved before pointing towards the ocean. The woman smiled and nodded their approval. Morgana tried to recall the ancient recording she had seen years ago. She was pretty sure it was called "Risky Business." They could give the Cruise fellow a run for his money!

In other words, both were hot, and both were oblivious to the reactions they were causing. Gwen glanced at Morgana before she whispered her observation. "Have you noticed..."

"How they're dressing the same, speaking the same, laughing the same? Yes. That bond's doing something to them. Merlin's much more confident now, and the captain's more playful than I've ever seen him."

Arthur skipped across the broiling beach to the 'ocean,' trying to keep his feet in contact with the hot sand for as little time as possible. He hopped in and sighed as the cool water washed over him. He beckoned for Merlin to join him.

His mate walked across the beach slowly. His feet weren't sensitive to the heat of the sand. He eyed the water suspiciously. He dipped his toe into the ocean carefully and shivered, looking much like a very unhappy cat facing a bath.

"Come on! The water's warm, and the holodeck won't let anything happen to you," Arthur assured him.

Merlin glared at him. "The water's warm for YOU, not me! It's pretty chilly if your body temperature's as high as mine."

The captain hadn't considered that fact. He enjoyed the heat Merlin generated when they cuddled. He never considered how chilly he must feel to his mate. He suddenly remembered their environmental "compromise" on his yacht. He'd be sure to increase the temperature in his quarters considerably. There was something else he could do that would help immediately, though.

"Computer, increase water temperature by 20 degrees C around us," Arthur said. That way he and the ensign would be the only ones affected by the higher temperature.

Merlin relaxed as he dipped his toe in the water again. "Better! You're sure it's safe? You won't..."

"Merlin, swimming isn't just something you have to do to pass your Academy finals. It can be fun, too. Just lie on your back and let me support you."

The young man relaxed as he felt strong hands holding him up. "This is nice. Really nice! They made us swim in ice water at the Academy. I could hardly concentrate it was so cold. That was bad, but..." he shivered, this time not from the temperature, but from the memory. "The drowning simulation was awful! I didn't think I'd ever enjoy swimming, but I like this! How do I... Wait. Computer, PADD please."

A tablet appeared in his hand a second later. He touched a few buttons and scanned the information quickly as he floated on his back in the tepid water.

"I get it!" he said. He flipped onto his stomach, started a front crawl and took off at an impressive speed as the captain watched in amazement. He was fast enough to compete on the ship's swim team and it was the first time he'd tried the stroke, his superior strength making up for his inexperience.

Arthur sighed as his delighted mate started swimming towards a small group of islands several kilometers away. There was no way he could keep up with a 21 year old twice as strong as he was. He glanced back at the beach and saw Morgana and Gwen swimming up to the floating bar. He started salivating at the thought of a frosty glass of synthale and a hot dog to accompany it. He'd see Merlin later that day. It was time to relax.

Conversation with Morgana had always been easy for him. Chatting with Gwen seemed equally familiar. It was several hours before he looked for his mate again. He blinked in surprise as he saw a flash of red from Merlin's Speedo in a very unlikely place.

"What the hell's he doing now?" Arthur asked. The two women turned and spotted the previously hydrophobic ensign climbing to the top of the highest diving board.

"I don't know. He looks like he's going to jump. I swear he'd kill himself if the holodeck mortality failsafes weren't on. Only experienced divers risk..." Her words caught in her throat as Merlin ran along the diving board and jumped off the end. He flew through the air, propelled by leg muscles far stronger than a human's. He did a backflip before entering the water with barely a splash. His head popped out of the water a second later. He blushed from the considerable applause.

Several of the people at the bar stopped their drinking to glance at Arthur in envy. News of the captain's bonding had spread through the ship like wildfire. Ensign Gwen's assessment of the situation was correct.

"The only thing that goes faster than Warp 10 is gossip!"

It really wasn't surprising to the officers watching the two men. Of course The Great Captain Pendragon would choose perfection, and the ensign was the closest thing they had ever seen to it, his initial incident with the Starbase doors aside. The ensign hopped out of the pool and jogged towards them. The two senior officers had time for a quick comment before he reached them.

"Captain, I think we've underestimated him. I'm not sure there's anything he can't learn to do in minutes," Morgana said.

"Hmm. I think you're right. It didn't take him long to get the hang of..." His voice trailed off as he blushed. "Never mind!"

Merlin smiled as he reached them, preparing to lay down on the hot sand and soak up what was left of the afternoon sun.

Arthur tapped his comm badge when it bleeped for his attention. "Yes? Understood. Set course for Risa, warp factor 8. Commander, with me," he said as he stood up and brushed of the sand, lost in thought. Merlin's growl refocused his attention on his mate.

"SIX HOURS? THAT'S IT? THAT'S OUR HONEYMOON?"

"Ensign, I don't think I need to remind you of our duty as Starfleet officers. We go where we're ordered, when we're ordered."

"I don't care! Gwen told me about honeymoons, and a few hours on the holodeck isn't a honeymoon! If we're going to be in orbit around Risa tomorrow, I WANNA GO TO THE STARDANCE!"

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THE STARDANCE?" his mate asked.

Everyone on the beach under the age of thirty turned to look at the captain like he was clueless.

"STARDANCE RISA! THE RAVE! THE BIG RAVE! THE ULTRA MEGA SUPER COOL RAVE!" Merlin clarified. Then he sighed, looking dejected.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter, anyway. I could never get tickets. I'm not fabulous enough," he pouted. A smile replaced his pout almost instantly as a thought occurred to him. "Hey! Wait! YOU ARE!" he said to Arthur as he hopped up and down with glee.

"Ensign, people have called me a lot of things in the past, but 'fabulous' isn't one of them."

"Not to your face, at least," Gwen said with amusement. The captain was beautiful, had saved a planet and inevitably captured all attention in any situation with his incredibly powerful charisma. She spoke a few words into thin air and a holographic communications panel appeared in front of them as if by magic.

"Opening a channel to StarDance Risa," Gwen said.

An image of a pink funfur-clad Andorian youth appeared on the screen. Her appearance didn't mitigate her thoroughly bureaucratic demeanor.

"Yes?" she asked dryly, preparing to provide the same answer for the thousandth time that day.

"We'd like two tickets to the StarDance."

"You and the rest of the Alpha Quadrant. There isn't a single ticket left in the..."

"They're for Captain Arthur Pendragon and his mate,'" Gwen clarified.

Her blue antennae swiveled towards them in fascination. "Captain Pendragon? The Queen?"

Arthur blushed. "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS, YOU..."

"His formal title's 'HighQueen,'" she corrected, saving the captain the embarrassment his misunderstanding might have caused.

The young woman nodded.

"Done! Royalty is always welcome. We'll transmit the encoded tickets. When he arrives, just send his limo to the priority access level of the Central Plaza and..."

"They'll beam to the dance floor directly," Gwen said, smiling at the look of shock on the bureaucrat's face. Personal transport was almost unheard of. The technology was ridiculously expensive, and almost NO ONE wanted to use them without a competent StarFleet officer at the controls.

"BEAM? TO THE DANCE FLOOR? With, like, sparkly lights and 'Energize' and everything? No one's done that before. No one! That's... That's... BEYOND FABULOUS! We'll see you tomorrow!"

After she closed the channel, Arthur looked at his mate. "Merlin, this really doesn't sound like my kind of thing. I'm not sure we should go."

"Gwen didn't just teach me about honeymoons, she taught me something else, Arthur," Merlin said as his eyes flashed with amusement. He whispered in the captain's ear. Arthur's eyes flew open. He turned and scowled at Gwen.

"WITHHOLDING SEX? You taught him about withholding sex to get what he wants? If there were a commissioned rank lower than ensign, I'd demote you! As it is, be thankful I'm not throwing you in the brig!"

"Yeah, it sounds unpleasant to me, too, but I'm pretty sure it would work eventually," Merlin said as he gently stroked their bond telepathically, soothing his agitated lover.

"Then the StarDance it is, but this better not come back to bite me on the ass, Merlin."

The captain turned on his heel and walked quickly off the holodeck, Morgana hurrying to keep up with him as he issued commands to her.


	24. Chapter 24

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 24**

"You don't really expect me to wear this in public, do you?" the captain asked as he studied the matching outfits Merlin had selected for the dance. The skin-tight shirt and shorts with the glittering holographic pattern left almost nothing to the imagination. Their Speedos were only slightly more risque.

Even worse, THIS outfit required a microscopic antimatter reactor to power the shifting colours on the fabric. It had taken one of the ship's advanced replicators several hours to assemble their outfits. In addition, it required his authorization to override the failsafes before the replicator would even consider including the reactor.

There were perhaps a few thousand people in the Federation who could afford to purchase such an outfit. The rest were senior Starfleet officers who could order the replicator override, IF they had access to antimatter. T'Lar had never looked more stunned than when he asked her to confirm that there was no possibility his shorts would breach. She thought he was worried about them splitting. Then she saw the blueprints. After studying the schematics for a few minutes, she informed him the probability was extremely low. Their safety verified, the captain limited his objections to their style.

"Don't blame me for the design! Blame Armani!" Merlin said. "I just checked the Risan database for acceptable clothing for the Stardance. IT recommended this, not me!"

"People actually wore things like this last year?" the captain asked.

"Of course not! Last WEEK's fashion wouldn't be acceptable where we're going, let alone last YEAR's," his mate pointed out. "You're going to have to trust me on this, Arthur."

"I still don't understand why it needs antimatter to power it. Surely it can't require that much energy to display colours on fabric."

Merlin looked awkward. "The generator's not just for the colours. The fabric has sensors embedded in it. It'll detect an energy discharge or a matter-based projectile several nanoseconds before it hits and charge the built-in personal shield grid. It can also project an environmental containment field that'll withstand everything from hard vacuum to a caustic atmosphere for several seconds. It's designed to thwart assassination attempts. The subroutines for the colours, the reactor and the shield grid are all muddled together. It'd be nearly impossible to separate them. I just figured, why not replicate the whole thing?"

The captain fingered the fabric again with newfound respect. No wonder the replicator had difficulty assembling the sophisticated material. A quick glance at the label confirmed what he suspected. The outfit wasn't just designed by Armani. The Cochrane Institute Defense Division deserved some credit, too. The captain decided to take his mind off the highly unlikely risk of assassination and changed the topic.

"So, what kind of music do they play at the StarDance?"

"All kinds from nearly every known culture. Remixed Klingon opera is popular. There's a lot of Terran retro, too. Most of it's from the late 22nd century, but some's older. You'll love it. Trust me!"

As they walked to the transporter room, one of the junior Engineering officers grabbed the captain's shorts without thinking. She had overseen the creation of the fabric, but had assumed it was for the lining of an advanced environmental suit. The captain had to tug her hand from his backside before she realized what she had done.

"Sorry, Captain!" she said as she blushed. "When I replicated this, I didn't think..."

"Trust me, lieutenant, I had no idea, either. You can thank my little fashionista for that," he said with a nod at Merlin. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have a party to..."

"THE STARDANCE? YOU'RE GOING TO THE... WOW! There are a few billion people who'd give a lot to trade places with you this evening. Have fun, sir," she said with a smile as she turned and walked away.

The two men continued to the transporter room, set coordinates for the dance floor and faded out of sight.

* * *

The crowd watched in amazement as the stunning men appeared in a cascade of glittering light, the soft singing of the transporter beam adding to the impact. Arthur's eyes widened in shock. Either they hadn't been given the correct coordinates, or the Risans had recommended different ones at the last moment. They weren't on the dance floor with the other forty million people. They were on the dais reserved for the stunningly powerful and the unspeakably wealthy.

Behind them a massive window displayed the placid Risan ocean, powerful coloured beams of light flying across the surface of the water, pulsing in time to the music, reflecting off the tractor beam-generated waves in beautiful shifting patterns. The captain was impressed in spite of himself. The ability to coordinate and project beams of that complexity would challenge a Starship computer.

The view in front of them was equally spectacular. Millions of people danced on the Central Plaza dance floor. It stretched for kilometres in all directions. Transparent aluminum platforms floated on anti-grav generators above the main floor, some containing bars, some containing chill-out lounges, all of them giving clear views of the action on the dance floor below.

On the other side of the dais, the Grand Nagus nodded to the captain, recognizing the value of establishing a relationship with the influential "hue-mahn." His eyes ran up and down Merlin, pausing to study his unique ears, apparently intrigued by the possibility of a different kind of relationship. The captain nodded back respectfully before hissing a warning to his mate.

"Whatever you do, don't rub Zek's ears! He loves Oo-mox and If you're too good at it, I'll never see you again! When the Nagus can't purchase what he desires, he'll acquire it by less ethical means."

Merlin's head whipped around as he spotted people he had only read about in textbooks. D'Hien of Sandar. Vanna, the Precept of the T'Kon Confederacy. Actors. Musicians. Politicians. Reporters. All leaders in their respected fields. Arthur finally managed to drag his starstruck mate off the dais and onto the dance floor proper, covering his ears as he tried to block out the racket. On their way down the stairs they were accosted by several Federation security guards, tricorders wailing unhappily.

"ANTIMATTER SIGNATURE DETECTED! STAND BY TO INITIATE... Oh! Captain Pendragon! Sorry, sir. We didn't mean to bother you. We were just scanning for, um, explosive 'packages,'" she snickered as her tricorder howled in front the captain's shorts.

"THAT'LL BE ALL, COMMANDER! CARRY ON!"

As the amused security guards went on their way, the two men managed to find a free spot on the dance floor. The captain put his hands over his ears again.

"Merlin, the 'music' just sounds like noise! If I were still on the Excalibur, I'd think something had gone wrong with the inertial dampeners," he screamed into his partner's ear, trying to be heard over the music. Merlin mental instructions reminded him he didn't need to.

_Close your eyes, clear your mind and listen_

his partner said as he rested his hand on the side of the captain's face, educating him in moments. The cacophony sorted itself into a complex melange of beautiful interlocking harmonies.

_That's... Incredible_

the captain thought back at him as Merlin removed his hand.

_It takes most people a while to learn to enjoy it. I'm pretty good at music, so it took me much less time. I wish I had thought to bring my lyre. Wanna dance? _

he asked with a sparkle in his eyes.

_I don't think..._

_C'mon, Arthur! Stop worrying so much. There are millions of people on the dance floor. No one's going to pay any attention to us. Promise!_

As Arthur watched Merlin start to move in an extremely provocative manner his mood improved. He hadn't expected to enjoy himself, but his mate's delight flowed through their bond constantly. He felt himself relax and start to enjoy the lights, the music and the others partying around him. The euphoric feeling Merlin's joy awakened in him was the ultimate aphrodisiac. His clothing detected his pleasure and brightened like the galaxy's most expensive mood ring.

Arthur looked deeply into his lover's eyes. He applied light pressure to the side of Merlin's face with his fingers, somehow knowing the right spots to touch. Merlin's eyes widened in shock as Arthur transmitted his passion through their bond. The captain watched him start to tremble as the thread thickened and pulsed, probing deeply into the young man's mind.

Merlin started to scramble back, shocked by his mate's unexpected telepathic prowess. Merlin's sexual skill was based on instinct. Arthur's was based on decades of experience, his new psychic abilities only an additional facet of his proficiency in the erotic arts. He smiled reassuringly as he continued probing, lightly touching certain spots in his lover's mind, shifting slightly, stroking firmly, thrusting deeper as he gained confidence.

_ARTHUR! I CAN'T..._

_Trust me, my love_

The music seemed to intensify as he stepped closer to Merlin. Arthur slipped his free arm around Merlin's waist, supporting him as the young man's knees started to buckle from the incapacitating pleasure. Sweat fell from their faces onto their glistening chests. It mingled as Arthur drew him closer and pressed against him, their shared heat adding to the pleasure of his much warmer lover as they felt the physical evidence of their excitement grow.

Arthur couldn't manipulate time like Merlin could, but it was a long evening and he was a patient man. He silenced Merlin's moans of ecstasy with his mouth as he kissed him passionately, tongue probing in time with the thrusting of the bond, sapphire eyes intensified by the beams of light flying across the Risan ocean.

The liberties the captain took were completely out of character for him, but his new-found playfulness asserted itself. No one around them was surprised. They were all in various states of undress. They wouldn't be telling any tales. Arthur continued probing relentlessly as Merlin convulsed in his arms, crying out his name.

The captain threw caution to the wind as the evening progressed, driven almost beyond reason by Merlin's gasps of pleasure as he stroked him mentally and physically. Their privacy was ensured by the forty million others around them. Trying to spot any given couple in the crowd would be impossible. The colours on their outfits started to flow in time with their passion, intensifying as they approached the summit of bliss.

_I love you, Merlin_

_I love you, too, Arthur_

The music on the dance floor was much too loud for anyone to notice their cry of shared joy, although a few smiled knowingly when, for a few moments at the end of the evening, their clothes shone like the sun.

As the music slowed and the dance floor started to clear, the two men looked at each other tenderly. The captain tapped his communicator and whispered a few words. They faded from the dance floor, beaming directly to his quarters. They crawled into bed, exhausted for all the right reasons and curled up together, gradually falling asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

A/N: I'd love to hear your comments on this chapter. It's a challenge to write innuendo convincing enough to make an erotic story "T-rated." Did you like it?

Cheers!

JulieGee


	25. Chapter 25

**The Final Frontier**

**by JulieGee**

**CHAPTER 25**

The next morning the captain walked onto the bridge with a big grin on his face. He looked around and blinked in surprise. The captain was almost always the focus of attention, but this time it was like being under a microscope. He had far too many responsibilities to concern himself with it for long.

As he sat down in the command chair and prepared to begin his log entry, Merlin's frantic thoughts travelled along their bond in a barely intelligible stream.

_ImSoSorryImSoSorryImSoSorry! _

He studied his mate curiously. Merlin had NOTHING to apologize for! The night had been spectacular... Passionate... Liberating. Gwen interrupted the captain's soft, subconscious purring.

"Captain, um, did you see the subspace broadcast of the Stardance? I think you might want to check it out. People are... Impressed. Onscreen," Gwen said with a twinkle in her eye.

The symbol of FNN, the Federation's main newsnet, rotated slowly on the screen before the recording of the broadcast started.

"This is FNN, the Federation News Network, broadcasting live from the Central Plaza at StarDance Risa. The stars are out tonight!"

"D'Hien of Sandar is attending with his entourage, as is Precept Vanna of the T'kon Constituency, Grand Nagus Zek of the Ferengi Alliance, HighQueen of the Saridin Arthur Gaylord Pendragon, and his mate Marlun Emrayes."

Arthur made choking sounds as an image of him and his partner flashed up on the viewscreen. The image had been taken half-way through the dance. They weren't wearing their shirts.

The captain had panicked when he woke up and found them missing. He had the ship scan for the articles of clothing any terrorist group would have paid a small fortune for. The reactor in their shirts was the ultimate concealable explosive. He relaxed when they finally locked onto his and beamed it back aboard the ship. T'Lar was still scanning for Merlin's. She had narrowed it down to within a square kilometre and she had assured him it wouldn't take much time before it was back in his possession.

Merlin was disturbed by the image on the screen. He was angry about something far more mundane.

"DAMN! They never pronounce my name right," he grumbled, trying to ignore his fluorescent red partner sitting behind him in the command chair.

"I wish the pronunciation of 'Gaylord' was the worst of MY problems," Arthur sighed. "I'm a Starship captain, not some party boy.'"

"The Alpha Quadrant thinks you're both, Sir," Gwen informed him. "You don't get it, do you? You were the centre of attention at the StarDance! Billions of people across the Federation were watching. You got more attention in two minutes than the President gets in a year! Everyone saw you all sweaty and glittery and gorgeous and stuff, and no one's going to forget it."

"And, um, with your hand down what the newsnets are referring to as your 'boytoy's' microshorts..." she said as she nodded at the new image displayed on the screen. That photo had been taken later that night.

Arthur's screech of horror was very uncaptain-like. He massaged his temples as he frantically willed the graphic image to go away. At least the camera hadn't found them towards the end of the evening. It only caught him with his hand down the back of Merlin's shorts instead of the front.

Gwen didn't bother to complete her sentence. She touched the flashing light on the Comm panel reminding her of the priority communication from the Admiralty. Arthur closed his eyes and sighed as a porcine face appeared on the viewscreen, red from laughing.

"Arthur! I'm calling in a favour! My nephew wants an autographed photo. Two of them, actually," the extremely amused Admiral Terradin said. He had seen Arthur's Dabo Girl dance in front of the Admiralty in the courtroom several weeks before. He hadn't expected to see it again, and was delighted by the fact that the captain had 'chosen' to share it with the Federation.

"I've seen the auction results, Terradin. You've already bought four of the photos! Why don't you give him one of those?" the captain grumbled.

"Oh, he doesn't want one of those phaser ones. He wants one of the valuable ones. The one of you and your boy gyrating on the dance floor with tongues down each other's throats and hands down each other's pants at that StarDance thing. He wants one for his high school locker, and one for... Well, I don't know what he's going to do with the second one, and I REALLY don't want to. All he'll say is that he needs to get it laminated before he 'uses' it."

Arthur paused to consider the unwanted information. He had been a teenager once. That was one photo he would NEVER want back!

"FINE! We'll sign them and send them to you shortly. Hopefully no one else wants one." He paused and looked at the eager faces staring at him from around the bridge. "You all want one, don't you?"

"YOU, TOO?" he hissed when he saw T'Lar looking as eager as he had ever seen her. She raised an eyebrow.

"I know your hard-earned popularity, or perhaps 'earned while hard' popularity is more accurate, must be difficult to come to terms with. Try to preserve a modicum of humility, Captain. I assure you, in my case, no lamination will be required. I intend to auction my copy to raise money for the Bajoran Orphans' Fund."

"Just think of it as peddling your ass for charity, Captain. And his," Morgana purred in delight as she nodded at Merlin.

The captain's glare could have melted a block of tritanium in a second.

"I'm curious about one thing, Arthur, as is the rest of the Admiralty," Terradin interrupted. "Would you care to explain why you chose to turn the most technologically advanced Starship in the Federation into what my nephew describes as the quadrant's 'way coolest' disco ball?"

"WHAT?"

Merlin looked sheepish. "I, uh, guess I forgot to tell you. Excalibur has some really powerful phasers and they can be tuned to different visible frequencies. That's where all those coloured beams drawing patterns on the ocean came from. The main tractor beam created the synchronized waves. I mean, the ship was just sitting in geosynchronous orbit above the Grand Plaza. Why not use it?"

He was about to throw his mate in the brig for an hour or two before he realized the access level required to generate phaser fire for such an extended period of time. It required the authorization of the person sitting in the "big chair."

The captain glared at his snickering first officer as he made a slashing gesture across his throat with his hand. Gwen followed his silent order and 'hung up' on the chortling admiral. The terribly embarrassed captain leapt out of the command chair as he glared at his mate.

The sarcasm as he reminded Merlin of his comment the previous evening came through their bond loud and clear.

"_No one's going to pay any attention to us. Promise!"_

_Oops!_

Merlin thought back at him as he blushed.

"I'm going to my Ready Room. I don't recommend interrupting me for anything short of a missing Genesis Device." He blushed with a sigh. "Or Emrys' shirt."

"Commander, set course for the Neutral Zone, maximum warp. We'll be joining the Seventh Fleet shortly," he snapped.

Merlin didn't know why they had diverted to Risa in the first place. He was Arthur's mate. That didn't automatically increase his security clearance and Arthur wouldn't break orders. However, all embarrassment aside he was VERY happy they had. The evening had been one of the happiest of his life. He became a lot less happy a few seconds later.

"Um, Captain, before you go there's the small matter of your 'inbox,'" Gwen said as she glanced at the rapidly increasing number of messages. "23.8 million so far, sir. It looks like a lot of them are... Computer, how many of the messages to the captain include sexual overtures?"

"19.2 million. The vast majority of the remaining messages involve overtures to both the captain and the ensign as a couple."

The captain didn't want to hear any further details. Merlin obviously didn't, either. His possessive irritation flowed through their bond clearly.

_***&^$%#*$&$!**_

This time the yell wasn't caused by inexperience like it had been with Arthur. It was pure, unadulterated, telepathic swearing.

The door to his Ready Room opened, but before he could step through his first officer asked, "Did you enjoy yourself last night, Captain?"

Her eyes sparkled with delight as Arthur smiled in spite of himself.


End file.
